First Encounter
by TheGiantRock
Summary: "I intended for us to unite then, the first moment I found you. But your heart was still too weak to contain Grima's power...". A look at the first meeting between Vessel and God.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've been reading so many awesome fics lately that I figured I'd finally contribute back to the community. Let me know how you think I did!  
**

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The cheery sunlight was at odds with the confrontation brewing on the open plains of Ylisse.

"Sorry, mom," I firmed my stance beside her, thunder tome at the ready. "The only way I'm going anywhere is if you lead the way."

Mother's answering glare could have cowed a brick wall, but I'd built up too much of a tolerance over the years for it to really phase me. I could see the arguments flashing through her mind, considered and discarded as she tried to figure out the best way to convince me to run.

"Southtown can't be more than a few miles away," she tried. "Go and get help. I can stall for as long as needed."

"The Ylisseans won't follow a Plegian at her word," I countered. "Not with all the recent 'bandit' attacks. It'd take a few hours, best-case scenario, by which time this would be long resolved. And there's only one enemy. And, if our last encounter was anything to go by, Validar still wants me alive. We can exploit that again." Well, hopefully. I glanced at the shadowy being across from us, but whether or not it understood me, it did not react.

Mother shook her head. "Human enemies," she said briskly. "I doubt the same tricks will work on this… dark magic construct." I gave her my best stubborn face in reply. Mother's glare intensified. "Don't give me that look, young lady! You've always trusted my judgement before. You promised to obey me when it came to Plegian matters. Are you going to go back on your word?"

"Yes, I am," I replied coolly. "Unless you give me an actual reason to abandon you here. I'm not a little girl anymore, mom. You always make me your top priority, but maybe you should consider the fact that you're _my_ top priority."

Mother's frown disappeared, and she sighed. "Stubborn girl. _Please_ , Robin, just listen to me this one time. I have a bad feeling about this."

Her tone gave me pause. Was that a hint of fear in her voice? Mother was usually calculating, controlled. If she were actually afraid of something... were we actually in that much danger? Or was it just a ploy on her part? I couldn't tell.

The shadow was silent and still, watching our argument. I could feel the pressure of its eyes on me through the inky darkness that drifted away from its body. I ignored the feeling as best as I could. If it wasn't going to attack us straight-out, that was fine by me.

"I know how to fight safely," I said slowly. "You know that. I can improve your odds of winning without becoming a liability. If you really want me to run... the only reason I can think of is self-sacrifice. Are you expecting to lose this fight?"

Mother looked exasperated, but I never got to find out how she was going to reply because shadow finally decided to step forward.

" **Why do you assume I'm hostile?** "

A distinctly female voice, with a soft echo to her words. You'd think we were in caverns instead of open plains. " **I'm actually quite willing to have a civil conversation.** "

"So you can speak?" Mother snorted, cradling her Thoron tome in her left hand. "It may interest you to know that jumping out of an eye in the sky and burning a smoking hole into the ground isn't how most people start off peaceful conversations."

"Heck, it's not something most people do, period," I added thoughtfully.

"Not to mention the whole aura of darkness," mother finished. "It doesn't exactly scream good intentions to me."

" **Sorry about that** ," the shadow shrugged, without really sounding apologetic. She seem relaxed, but I kept my guard up. This whole setup reeked of Validar.

Then the darkness around her dissipated, carried away by the gentle winds.

" **Is that better?** "

My eyes widened in alarm, and I could see mother stiffen out of the corner of my eye. Was that... me?

No, the woman standing across from us wasn't my exact copy. She had my build and features, but she looked a few years older than I was. Her silvery hair matched my own, now that I'd run out of dye, down to the twin ponytails.

And those eyes... they were a solid black, and for a moment I almost wished the darkness were back so I wouldn't have to look at them. There was something inherently unsettling about them.

"Much better, thanks." Mother's smile didn't reach her eyes. If she was as alarmed as I was, she was hiding it well. "Let's talk, then."

"Why don't you introduce yourself, first?" I asked. Naga be praised, my voice didn't waver. "Do we have a long-lost relative we didn't know about?" The second question was partly directed at mother, who shook her head minutely.

My doppelganger laughed. " **I suppose you could put it that way** ," she said. " **I'm you, Robin**."

I glanced at mother again, but her expression was inscrutable. "I don't blame you for wanting to be me, all things considered," I said as cheerfully as I could manage, "but I'm rather confident that _I'm_ me. You could've tried to pass as an older sister, though."

The woman simply shook her head, looking bemused, and mother took the opportunity to make a quick gesture. _Run_ , she signalled. I ignored her.

"I'll give you points for quality, of course," I complimented her. "That's one effective disguise. The whole cloak of darkness thing was kind of cliché, but I'm willing to toss in some bonus points for style." Mother let out a quiet groan, and I thought that if the situation hadn't been so serious she might have face-palmed. "But I think we'd all appreciate some real-talk for a second," I finished, gripping my tome tightly. "Who are you, really?"

My look-alike was grinning. If it weren't for her hollow eyes, it might've even looked friendly. " **Really, I'm hurt that you can't take me at my word. I'm you, Robin.** "

 _Dead end. No useful information here_. "What do you want?" I tried instead.

My clone's smile grew. Nope, still not comforting. " **A better question. What I want, my dear Robin, is for you** ," she pointed with a finger, " **to grow up and start fulfilling your destiny.** "

Mother's face hardened. _Aaaand there goes any chance of this ending without a fight_. "Great," I said. "So you want me to go back to Plegia like a good little Vessel, is that it?" I edged back to stand a bit behind mother. I could feel the enemy's magic; it probably wouldn't be best to take point against an opponent like this.

The woman clucked and shook her fingers at me as if I was a child. " **Now now, dear Robin, there's no need to be so hostile** ," she admonished." **I'm quite literally offering you Godhood.** "

"So were the last dozen bounty hunters, indirectly," mother noted dryly. "I'm not sure if you've figured it out yet, but we're not interested in dying for any of Validar's schemes."

" **No schemes. No dying to trial-and-error. And** **I'm not here on** _ **Validar**_ **'s behalf** ," she said the name with clear distaste. " **I'm offering you Godhood right here and now.** "

"Well, that's new," I commented after a moment. "You can do the ritual without the Dragon's Table? That doesn't change anything, you know. Everyone that's tried to become Grima's Vessel has died. It's kind of an obvious pattern at this point."

" **Ah, but I can guarantee your success** ," the woman claimed. " **After all,** **you were an exceptional vessel back in my timeline.** "

 _..._ So _that's_ what people mean when they say they can feel ice in their veins. I saw mother clench her Thoron tome a bit tighter.

"What in the seven _hells_ are you talking about?" I wasn't successful at keeping the waver out of my voice this time.

" **I'd think my implications were obvious when I said 'timeline'.** **But if you need me to spell it out for you...** " she let out a put-upon sigh. " **I'm saying that I'm you, from the future**."

She said it so calmly, too, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.

" **It's a pleasure to meet me,** " the woman continued with a shallow bow. " **Now, I'll really be disappointed if you get this wrong. Have you figured out my true name yet?** "

I was acutely aware of the thrumming of magic in the air, thick and suffocating. There was really only one conclusion.

"Grima," I breathed. It was half an answer, and half a question to mother. _Is it possible?_

" **Indeed**."

"You're insane," mother said flatly. "I don't know how you found us, but the future? Is that the best cover story Validar could come up with?"

" **It was the work of Naga.** **She's got a thing for gimmicks that involve time** ," Possibly-Grima explained. " **They'll avail her nothing in the end, of course. But if my appearance and word aren't enough proof, perhaps this would do the trick?** " She raised her finger, and I saw it.

Mother's wedding ring. There was no mistaking the color of the scarlet emerald, even at a distance. Possibly-Grima tossed the ring carelessly towards mother. We jumped back instinctively, ready for a trap, but nothing happened. She waved her hand at us, inviting us to look. " **Well?** "

Mother didn't bother to draw her own ring from within her robes to compare. "A ring? You think that would suffice as proof of time travel?" she asked, incredulous. "The Hierophantess' ring can be duplicated, especially with Validar's resources."

Possibly-Grima frowned but did not reply.

I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. This was a clear opportunity to dig for information. "Here's a better test, if you're really me from the future. What did Mother give me for my sixth and seventh birthdays?" I couldn't imagine Validar or any of his spies knowing something so obscure.

She was silent for almost a minute before she spoke. " **If you insist, dear Robin. 'Battlefield Tactics for Dummies' for your sixth, and her own steel dagger for your seventh.** "

Well, damn. The dagger in question suddenly felt heavier inside the concealed pocket of my coat. If this really was Grima and she had my old memories, than all of mother's pre-set combat formations were useless. Mother must have come to the same conclusion; I saw her eyes narrow and lips purse the way they always did when she was forecasting possible combat plans.

There was a lull in the conversation. " **I didn't expect to appear in this timeline right in front of you,** " Probably-Grima noted eventually, " **A quirk of Naga's abilities, perhaps. But with both of us here, there's no reason we can't begin our reign now**."

"Our reign?" I repeated blankly.

She smirked. " **Yes. Where, or rather** _ **when**_ **I come from, the world was ours.** "

Well, that was ominous. "Let's say I believe you," I started, "and I'm not saying I do." I wasn't sure what to believe, yet. I needed to feel this out some more and look for inconsistencies. "If you're truly Grima from the future, then you have my future self as a Vessel. Anyone could feel the power rolling off you. What do you need me for? You're already complete!"

Grima's smirk disappeared. " **No.** "

"No?" I asked.

" **No. I'm stronger than any mortal now, but our old power was absolute.** " Absolute? Grima clearly didn't care about quantifying. **"Naga's gate was not meant for me, and I've lost strength. I'm sure you know what I'm about to offer.** "

"I'm sure you know my answer," I said. "Absolute power isn't really my thing."

" **Hah.** **Absolute power isn't your... thing,** " Grima quirked an eyebrow. When she spoke again, her voice was unusually quiet.

" **But don't you** _ **hate**_ **it?** " she asked eventually." **I won't claim I truly understood them, but I at least** _ **remember**_ **your emotions, back when we first merged. You're sick of being hunted like a dog, aren't you?** **Never allowed to settle and make friends. Always having to sleep with one eye open because you have a jackal for a father. I remember how angry you could be.** "

I don't think I was able to keep my expression as neutral as I wanted to, so denying it was out of the window. Blunt honesty, then.

"... Then you know that I hate you for making my childhood hell," I responded.

" **Oh?** **By simply existing?** **I did not force your father to hunt you** ," Grima countered. " **Let's pretend he pursued you because he wanted... oh, say, a gemstone of yours. Would you blame the gem for the resulting violence? Of course not. Validar made his choices himself, and I am no different from the gem.** "

"You're sentient," I argued back. "A gem couldn't influence anyone to chase after it. But you-"

" **I was a** _ **shadow**_ **,** **barely aware of myself until I was first revived** ," Grima interrupted. " **I suspect the same is true of the dormant Grima in this timeline.** **And even if it's not,** _ **I**_ **have literally done nothing to you outside of this conversation, since I did not exist in this world until minutes ago.** "

Right, time travel could mean multiple Grimas. Wonderful.

" **I don't think it's occurred to you that you don't have to be afraid,** " Grima continued when I remained silent. **"I'm not offering you magical tricks and toys. I'm offering you the power to protect your Mother. With my strength, you could crush Validar. I'm offering you the power of a God. Dearest Robin, what I'm offering you is** _ **freedom**_ ," she gestured magnanimously. " **Freedom to break out of this stupid lifestyle you've been forced into, to change everything!** "

" **You have little to lose, and quite literally the entire world to gain.** "

… Cliché, but I'll admit it. My curiosity itched. What would Validar's expression be if I showed up in Plegia one day with all the powers of a God? My mind painted an image of the bane of my childhood, a towering brute of a devil-man with horns and red eyes, finally laid low at my feet.

I'd never be able to befriend anyone, of course, no matter what Grima implied. Not with a God's powers and an inclination to world domination. But to crush Validar once and for all, and to keep mother safe...

I knew mother would never be happy with safety at my expense. Our lives on the run for the last several years were evidence of that. Vengeance on Validar would be beautiful, but every story I'd ever heard about Gods depicted them as fickle beings. What would be the price of Grima's power?

The silence grew. Mother was the first to break it, turning her head slightly to glance at me.

"I don't trust her," she said to me simply, loud enough for Grima to hear.

" **It** ," Grima said.

"Huh?" That was from both mother and myself.

" **It, not her** ," she, ah, _it_ clarified. It scowled at our blank expressions. " **I am not female**."

There was silence again for a moment.

"Apologies," Mother said eventually. She glanced at me again. "I don't trust it. It paints a pretty picture, but I'm not convinced about this whole time-travel thing."

" **I've already answered Robin's questions about her past** ," Grima pointed out.

"A spy of Validar's could have deduced those answers," Mother replied smoothly. "Unlikely, but it's more much feasible than time travel."

 _What?_ I bit my tongue before I could point out that it was _absurd_ that a spy would know of my birthday gifts for two subsequent years. Especially the dagger. If Validar had such access to such obscure information, then he'd certainly have known of my general location. In which case, he would've upped my bounty and drowned us with mercenaries. We wouldn't have lasted the year. He certainly wouldn't wait for a decade to use the information with a cover story as absurd as Grima's. Time-travel probably _was_ more likely than that, now that we were dealing with Gods.

" **You're well aware that** **Validar knows nothing of you two** ," Grima said impatiently. " **He's kept a bounty out, but you killed anyone that actually discovered you before they could report to him. Good job on that, by the way.** "

... I waited for it to append the more obvious counterargument, but it seemed content with that answer.

"We have no way of confirming that we got every spy," Mother replied.

" **... I suppose not** ," Grima said. " **I presume you have another test in mind, then?** "

I had to make an active effort to keep my face neutral. Did Grima actually accept such a flimsy retort?

Then I saw a flash of triumph in mother's eyes, and it became clear. _This_ was what mother was after. A chance to see how much the creature in front of us was truly me.

"Yes. If you're truly my Robin from the future, then how about a puzzle?" mother asked.

Grima paused for a moment so brief I wouldn't have caught it if I hadn't been looking for it, but when it spoke there was no hesitation in its voice. " **Fine.** "

"Excellent. Then…"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to Muggzy and Gunlord500 for the reviews/favs; it's really encouraging for me to see! I shall bestow an internet-cookie to whoever figures out what the hell I'm talking about in the opening, here.**

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Mother's voice slipped into the brisk mentoring tone she'd always take when teaching me battlefield tactics. "You have a 10 by 9 grid. Left to right is A to J, and bottom to top is 1 to 9. You have a healer on A2, a Jeigan knight on B1, a king on C2 and a mage on D1." She paused to let Grima absorb the information.

If Grima had my mind, then it wouldn't have accepted this second test at all. It would've argued for the birthday-gift test being sufficient proof, or else argued for more obscure memories as proof. Meaning it wasn't passively using my thought-process. It wasn't thinking as I did. And yet it had known of my birthday gifts. How? To what extent was this being me, and to what extent was it Grima?

"Your enemies are 5," she continued. "Two mighty axe wielders on A7 and G6. Two speedy myrmidons on D5 and I3. One mage on J9. In addition, C4, D4, G4, and H4, as well as C7, D7, G7 and H7 are impassible." She paused again. This was an entirely unique scenario that mother was creating. Direct use of past memories would be of no help to Grima, here.

"Your Jeigan knight can defeat any opponent in one hit, barring the axe-men who he can bring to near death. He may attack only thrice in the entire battle, including counterattacks. He is invulnerable to myrmidons, but will fall to three attacks from the axe-men or two from the mage."

"Your mage will fell any enemy in three hits. He will fall to two attacks from any enemy, except the myrmidon who will fell him in one blow. The king will fall to two attacks from any enemy. The healer will negate the equivalent of one axe blow to any unit, but will also fall in one hit from any opponent, except the mage who requires two hits to kill her."

" **Enough** ," Grima snapped. " **How does** _ **this**_ **function as proof of time travel?** "It was scowling, and I wondered idly if it was feeling overloaded with information. Did it not have my head for battlefield tactics? I was having no trouble keeping track of the question.

"Ah-ah, you'll see. Don't get impatient," mother chided. Grima's eyes flashed dangerously, and I tensed when I heard something.

… _?_

I could've sworn I heard whispered words in the wind, but even straining my ears I couldn't make any clear words. Grima didn't appear to be doing anything, though.

I wasn't sure if mother noticed it. If she did she didn't give any indication of it, continuing her question as if nothing were wrong. "All units may move 5 spaces per turn, except the Jeigan knight who may move 8. Your units can travel freely through spaces occupied by allies, but not those occupied by enemies. The enemy cantravel through spaces occupied by their own allies _or_ your units. The enemy's attack priority of units within range on their turn goes, from highest to lowest: healer, mage, King, Jeigan knight. All units may only attack adjacent enemies on their turn, except mages who may strike from a range of 1 or 2 squares away from themselves. An attack that does not fell an enemy leaves the attacker open for a counterattack, barring a mage attacking a non-mage from a distance of two squares. It is your turn; how would you defeat the enemy without losing a unit?"

The moment of truth. A question with overwhelming details. You would need both cleverness _and_ a brute memory for details to solve it. Grima was silent for a few minutes. Was it limited to simply observing my past memories? Or could it extrapolate from them, and piece together an answer from my old lessons on tactics? I'd already figured out a fair opening to mother's scenario.

When it spoke again, its voice was more controlled. " **You did not give Robin this question in my time. So I fail to see how this would prove that I travelled through time**." An evasion. And now that I listened for it, it was obvious that it wasn't thinking of itself and my future self as one-and-the-same. " **If it is a question of tactics, Robin is not the only one who could answer this question. Any seasoned tactician could, Validar chief among them**."

There was silence.

 _It really can't answer the question_ , I realised. It was an alarming thought, because that probably meant that my future self's subconscious was consumed by Grima. They clearly weren't in some symbiotic relationship in which my future self could contribute. Even with a few minutes to think, Grima couldn't apply my knowledge. The being in front of me had access to my memories, but other than that it wasn't me at all.

The same fact tempered my alarm with relief, though, because it meant that Grima didn't have my sense of strategy or excellent memory. Screw humility. Any being with my brain and Grima's obvious strength would be unbeatable.

That was to say, the prognosis for our inevitable battle had improved from completely hopeless to only mostly hopeless.

"So you can't answer the question?" I pressed, looking for a sample of Grima's thought process.

Grima scowled **.** " **I said nothing of the sort, Robin**." I vaguely noticed my demotion from "dear Robin" to Robin. " **But you originally suspected me of being a creation of Validar's. This test would not rule out the possibility. I'll not waste my time answering this pointless question when you'll simply give a second to account for the weakness of the first**."

I think we all knew that it was a flimsy excuse.

"Robin would have been able to solve that puzzle. She would have _enjoyed_ it," mother said.

"I did, actually," I noted despite the seriousness of the situation. "Great puzzle, mom! And to answer your question-"

Mother rolled her eyes, but I could see her lips curve slightly upwards. "Not now, child." Sheesh. I wasn't actually planning on giving a full answer in the middle of a conversation with a God. Just the key points, honestly.

Mother's smile disappeared when she looked at Grima. "And you... you aren't my Robin," she said quietly. "Not in the slightest. How _dare_ you pretend otherwise?"

Grima's eyes narrowed. " **Watch your tone, woman** ," it growled softly. The winds around it stirred, and I heard those soft voices again, growing in volume and clamoring unintelligibly in dissonance.

… _?_

I still couldn't make them out. If it was intentional, I'd give Grima credit for its subtle theatrics.

"You come here offering my daughter power?" Mother continued, ignoring Grima. "The power to protect me? The offer is appreciated, but we refuse. We need no protection."

" **No?** " Grima challenged, its soft tone at odds with its powerful voice. A flicker of flame danced idly at its fingertips. " **Are you sure? I know the future. Believe me, there will be a great many threats to you both soon enough.** "

"We've managed well enough so far," Mother said, steamrolling past the implied threat. "And my daughter would never threaten me. You say you wish to 'become one' with her? It looks to me much more like you consumed her entirely in the future, leaving her without a will of her own. Do you think us stupid?"

I winced when Grima's posture stiffened.

 _This will escalate_ , I realized. _We're approaching a point of conflict._ Mother wouldn't back down from her moral high-ground, and Grima had too much pride to allow a comment like that to go uncontested.

 _And if I stay silent, I'm just as responsible for the eventual blowout._

I raised my hands in the classic "everyone calm down" motion. "Please disregard that," I said to Grima. "Mother gets overly aggressive whenever there's even the implication of a threat to me." I gave mother a pointed look. "But she wouldn't risk such important negotiations just to satisfy her protective streak, right?"

To her credit, she gave me a sheepish look.

"… **Bah,** " Grima snorted at mother. I felt some tension leave my shoulders when I saw Grima relax its pose. " **I'd be wasting my time talking with her, anyway. It is your decision, Robin, that matters to me.** "

I opened my mouth to speak, but Grima cut me off. " **Don't bother. Your answer, as you are now, is obvious. But** _ **think**_ **, Robin. Why are you refusing me? Are you doing it on principle? Because I am** _ **evil**_ **? Because your mother** ," Grima spared her a contemptuous glance, " **doesn't approve?** "

"Does it matter?" I asked.

" **You value critical thinking, don't you?** " Grima added another flame to its fingertips. " **Have you** _ **truly**_ **thought this through?** "

Huh. Being told to take my time and re-evaluate my position wasn't something I was expecting from Grima. Then again, I suppose it didn't have many other cards to play.

"Alright," I said.

"Robin, I don't think -" mother began.

"No, Grima's right." I didn't think I'd be saying those words when I woke up this morning. "This is a fate-of-the-world situation here, isn't it? We may as well consider every possible option." Mother had a mulish expression on her face, so I added in, "I'm pretty strongly on the _no_ side of things as it stands, of course."

The flames in Grima's hand flared a little and I scented smoke. "Ahem, right. Thinking."

" **Please do**."

And I thought. Minutes passed, and no one spoke.

Grima idly added another flame to its fingertips and started juggling them in one hand. It should've been a funny sight. It wasn't. Mother's gaze stayed fixed on Grima. She was still holding her tome tightly, and I could feel the electric energies of Thoron swirling around her, not quite active but ready to be drawn upon in a hurry. The scent of fresh grass, mud and residual smoke were washed away in a light breeze. And still I thought.

Silence reigned on the plains of Ylisse.

"Grima."

It looked at me wordlessly.

"How did you merge with future-me?"

" **The Dragon's Table, countless sacrifices, and shock.** "

I waited, tacitly signalling Grima to continue. "… **Validar used sorcery to turn you against an ally. Your shock let me overwhelm your mind when it was vulnerable.** "

"She's still fighting you. The other me." I said it as more of a statement than a question.

Grima eyed me speculatively, ceasing it's juggling with a clenched fist and the hissing of extinguished flame. " **… No, she's silent now.** "

"You could force me into this-" I began.

"Don't tempt it," Mother murmured.

"- But you're negotiating instead. Why?"

Grima shrugged. " **Who knows? Perhaps I'm just tired of the vengeful deity routine.** "

"It limits your powers, doesn't it?" I pressed. "Your absolute power isn't as absolute without a willing Vessel."

I met Grima's gaze. Those soulless, black eyes were unnatural. I could feel it weighing me, and I suppressed a shiver. _Such a hollow look…_ and yet Grima was the one to first avert its gaze. " **… It's not extra power I need, Robin,** " it said. I could tell saying this cost Grima something. " **It's your mind.** "

 _Of course_.

It fit with what I knew. Grima's poor performance with Mother's puzzle. It's willingness to parley for so long, despite its reputation as a violent deity. It wanted symbiosis. But…

"Why not talk with your Robin now?"

Grima looked surprised for the first time in our conversation. " **Hm? Talk with her?** "

"Yeah," I said, giving myself a mental pat on the back for being capable of startling a god. "Instead of looking for a new Robin, why not work with the one you've got?"

" **We don't exactly have a working relationship.** "

"Well, you've got to start somewh-"

" **The first thing I did when I took her body was to slaughter her friends and family.** "

"You _what!_?" The words burst out of me before I could stop them.

Those whispers in the air from Grima, which had fallen almost silent, surged forth again.

… _CH…! Pl…! I….!_

I could almost make out something that time.

" **Mm-hmm.** **They didn't even fight back** ," Grima added helpfully. " **Complete carnage.** "

 _Oh gods_. Almost involuntarily, I found my eyes drawn to mother. I could easily imagine her pleading with me to return to my senses. Even if I were trying to kill her, I would bet anything that Mother wouldn't fight back. Despite her claims of a practical nature, she'd no doubt keep hoping for an alternative solution. Even if I were lost under the possession of a dark God…

 _Monster_.

"Yes, it is," mother said quietly. I blinked, not realizing I had spoken aloud.

" **I suppose I am** ," Grima agreed. "… **You can see why she's never in a mood for civil conversations.** "

"Seriously, what the hell? Why did you tell me that?" I asked. My voice definitely didn't squeak. Not at all.

" **You're smarter than I am** ," Grima said. Despite the admission, there was no trace of humility in its voice. " **It's one of the reasons you were chosen as my vessel. So I'll play it differently this time and be honest**."

" **I enjoy destruction. I won't apologize for my nature. I had fun killing your future self's comrades. And** _ **I've already won**_ **. A few years after my return I conquered the entire world. I** _ **let**_ **those** **kids of Naga** - **"**

 _Kids of Naga_?

" **-open their gate to the past. Why not? I'm curious. If I could conquer the world alone, how much could we accomplish together?** "

"You travelled through time because you were curious," mother summarized flatly. "And now you want to beat your record at how quickly you can conquer the world? Is that it?"

Grima raised an eyebrow at her. " **When you put it like that, you make it sound like a game.** "

Mother raised an eyebrow right back. She did it better, too. She had a lot of practice with me, after all. "Are you telling me this isn't a game to you? That's encouraging to hear."

When Grima laughed, the air seemed to _thrum_ a little. Those voices quietly hissing in the background swelled again.

… _m! I-… s… so… I…_

Again, I could hear the word "I". Were the voices actually saying anything? More than that, the emotion in those voices was unnerving. Desperation. Sorrow.

" **No, this is certainly a game to me. I just didn't expect** _ **you**_ **to put it that way.** "

 _I… so…!… Ch….!_

"Can you please stop that?" I asked. "It's kind of hypocritical to talk about Naga using parlour tricks when you do that."

Mother and Grima both looked at me a little askance. " **Do what?** "

"Those voices in the air!" I said. "I get it, you're scary and have weird ghostly powers. But it's creeping me out-" I wasn't ashamed to admit it, "- and I think we established that you aren't going for the intimidation strategy anyway, so…" I trailed off.

Grima's expression hadn't changed. Mother looked concerned.

"… You two _do_ hear those voices, right?" I asked, just to be sure.

"I'm not hearing anything, dear…" Mother eyed Grima, who put its arms up in a mockery of innocence.

" **I hear nothing. As you said, Robin, I'm not one for tricks. I'm much more direct in my intimidation.** "

Then what was I hearing? Grima could've been lying to me just for the hell of it, but I couldn't tell.

 _CHR…! I…! I…! Wa…!_

I tuned out the eerie wailing as best as I could. Grima was looking at me speculatively, so I changed the subject.

"Well, if it's not the work of any of us three, then we'll put that aside for now." I said as firmly as I could manage. "To get back on track, Grima, you're willing to negotiate. So let's outline what we each want. For myself, what is it that you're offering?"

Mother shot me a _look_. One that said _what the hell are you doing, are you actually considering this?_

I resisted the impulse to look away, trying to maintain a firm expression. Considering all options and communicating well was always a good idea. Mother held her stare for a few seconds, then let out a small sigh. She probably figured I was right. She gave a quick raise of her eyebrows towards Grima, which I translated as _alright, go on then_.

Grima watched the byplay with amusement. " **Power** ," it answered once it had our attention again. " **I offer you co-existence as a God. My Robin is long since lost within my consciousness. You would not be.** **With my strength, you can cast down Validar. If you then wish to live a quieter life with your mother until her natural end, I will allow it.** "

" **If you wish to use my power to reshape this world to better it, I will allow it.** " Grima continued. **"I will give you complete access to my strength to use however you wish, so long as you do not intentionally turn it to our own destruction. We will not age. But once you have lived your life to your satisfaction, we will follow my goals. I** _ **will**_ **see the limits of our combined powers.** "

Grima was offering a legitimate trade, in a sense. "So a lifetime as myself with your strength, in which I can accomplish whatever I want. And then I aid you in your goals indefinitely."

" **Yes. I am the God, and I will take priority. But even afterwards we will co-exist, and I will not fully ignore your will.** "

"Hm. So in the end… you'll want to conquer the world again?"

" **I want to see the extent of our true power** ," Grima corrected. " **I want to see our capacity for true destruction.** "

"Phrase it as nicely as you like, Grima," Mother interrupted with a frown. "But to me it sounds like you're willing to let Robin strengthen the world before you trash it."

" **I'm not sugar-coating anything.** **If conquering this world is the best way to test my powers, then so be it.** "

" _If,_ " I said. "Meaning if there was a better way to test your limits, you would pursue it instead?"

Grima shrugged.

"I should probably clarify something, in case it isn't obvious," I said. " _I've_ got no interest in conquering the world."

" **Why?** "

Why? How did I even go about starting to answer that?

… _I'm so…! CH…! I'm-_

I spoke my thoughts aloud to help drown out the voices that were still wailing in the air. Did no one else honestly hear that?

"Well…" I began loudly. "Why would I _want_ to conquer the world? What does that even mean? Do I wander from continent to continent, killing the armies and leaders of every country in the world?" Separating families and causing heartbreak for innocent people as well, not that Grima would care for that. "What do I gain from that? The right to rule? The ability to make laws and demand tribute from people?"

" **Surely you've seen things in this world that could be improved**." Grima shrugged again. " **I say conquer, but I'm sure you'd be interested in diplomacy over warfare. I know you could think of many ways to use my strength. As it is, you cannot do anything, hunted as you are by Plegia. I personally care nothing for the ability to rule.** "

No interest in ruling. Then it cared for the thrill of planning and execution of battle? A sheer enjoyment in destruction?

"Then why do you fight?" I asked.

" **It is how I am,** " Grima answered firmly.

"Does that make you happy?" Mother asked.

Grima blinked and stared at mother. She stared right back. Leave it to mother to always look at the bigger picture.

"… **Happy?** " Grima asked blankly. " **… It's just what I do. It doesn't have anything to do with happiness**."

"But then why do it at all?" Mother pressed. "Why commit to something as extreme as world domination if it doesn't even make you happy?"

" **It's… what I do** ," Grima repeated.

"That's not good enough!" Mother snapped. "That reasoning works for harmless hobbies. World domination _hurts_ people! So many feel pain at your actions, and yet you gain nothing. What's the point of something like that?"

" **Don't lecture** _ **me**_ ," Grima snapped back before I could step in. " **The sufferings of humans does not hold any weight with me.** _ **I**_ **gain nothing, and** _ **I**_ **lose nothing**." Mother opened her mouth to give what would probably be a scathing reply -

"But _I_ don't feel that way."

\- And paused when I spoke my thoughts.

"Grima. You want me to help you willingly. It's true that I have no personal reason to hate you specifically. You've done no wrong in this timeline."

 _I'm…! I'm…! Chr…!_

Grima opened its mouth to speak, but I barrelled on before it got the wrong idea.

"But there's no way I'm going to agree to anything involving world domination. If destruction is simply what you do, then in the same sense, it's something I _don't_ do," I said.

"Hurting others when I gain nothing by it is useless. I'm human, too, you know," I added. "I know what it's like to suffer. Didn't you say you knew my hate for my childhood? I don't want other people to feel that type of pain for no reason."

Grima mulled that over.

" **If it is the destruction of this world that riles you** ," Grima began, " **then know that there are countless other worlds in the Outrealms.** "

"No, it's not _this_ world that I care for above all others. I don't want unnecessary pain to go to innocent people in _any_ world."

" **Oh?** **Then who would we fight?** "

"If there's countless worlds in the Outrealms, isn't it possible to find those under tyrannical rule and just attack those?"

Grima snorted. " **Your mind will be one of our greatest assets in combat. I've no doubt to be efficient, you'd have me simply waltz in, destroy their command structure, and then badger me to spare the innocent civilians.** **Then I'd have to destroy** _ **you**_ **for being more trouble than you're worth, and I'd be back to square one.** " Really, what Grima was saying was " _don't push it."_ It was certainly true that such a setup wouldn't test Grima's capabilities.

So I tried again. "Feroxi warriors are known to crave challenges. They do not fear death in battle. Surely there are worlds consisting of such warrior nations that would accept a challenge from you, even at the risk of destruction."

" **That would be tedious. I am a destroyer. To ask this of me would be like asking a starving man to sort through thousands of berries, only consuming the dozen ripest while ignoring the others.** "

I didn't like how Grima compared worlds to berries, but otherwise I understood the simile. "Is your compulsion to destroy really that strong?" I asked.

" _ **Compulsion**_ **?** " Grima spat.

Holy mercurial mood swings. I held my arms up is as non-threatening a manner as I could. "Whoa now, sorry. Poor choice of words."

Grima scowled, then took a breath. " **It is nothing. But let me be clear: _n_** _ **othing**_ **compels me. I act as I will**."

I nodded as I put my hands back down. "Right. You're your own woman. Being."

Grima nodded back. " **Yes** ," it said, turning away and scowling at nothing. " **I am.** "

So Grima seemed to get offended at the idea of being compelled to do anything. I filed the information away for future use.

An awkward silence settled upon the three of us as Grima withdrew into itself. Mother took the chance to signal me. A nudge of her eyebrows towards Grima, a clenching of her tome. _Attack?_

I felt something warm in my chest when I realized mother was waiting to follow my lead, to leave key decision-making to me. _Right, don't screw this up, Robin_.

I thought quickly. Our choices were to run, to attack, for me to agree to Grima's deal, or for me to refuse and to see if it was willing to leave us alone. I didn't know how long we could outrun Grima for. Was it limited to human running speed and stamina? Safer to assume it wasn't. I didn't know the limits of its combat ability. It supposedly took over the world in its time, but by its own admission it was weakened by travelling through time by Naga's magic. So its strength was a complete unknown. If we _did_ want to attack, to get the first strike and gauge its strength, there wouldn't be a better opportunity.

Still, I hesitated. Barring the recent mood whiplash when I used the word "compulsion", Grima had shown itself to be able to be surprisingly rational. It was naïve, but I didn't want to be the one who started the conflict here.

My decision made, I closed my eyes for a second and shook my head at mother. _Don't fight._

She pursed her lips, then gave me a tight nod.

… So. Only two options left. I could negotiate terms for Grima's offer, or refuse and hope for the best. It would be amazing to have Grima's strength. It would fix all of our short term problems with Plegia. But there was too much of a blank slate afterwards for me to feel comfortable with that decision. Grima had admitted that it would use me to destroy.

Would it be worth it? Which way did the scales tip? Me using Grima's strength to help the world, or Grima using my mind to destroy it? Destruction, certainly. I got to do what I wanted until I was satisfied, but if we lived forever, Grima would always get the better end of the deal. And that was assuming I even wanted to fix the world as my primary goal, and not just live peacefully with Mother for a lifetime. If _that_ was what I wanted, then my decision would be purely selfish.

Grima broke out of its own reverie as I pondered this. " **So, Robin. Bullion for your thoughts?** "

Mother snorted. "If you think a bullion is cheap, you've lived a pampered life."

" **Or perhaps I simply value Robin's thoughts.** "

"Are you being charming?" I asked, somewhat surprised. "You're not allowed to do that!"

Grima rolled its eyes and flicked its silver pigtails back. " **I said** _ **perhaps**_." And then its tone became brisk. " **You have had time to consider my offer. What say you?** "

 _Ch…! Don't…! I'm so….!_

A woman's voice. I could be certain of that, now. It had not once stopped wailing throughout our conversation.

"To summarize," I started slowly. "Your offer is this: you will lend me your strength so that I can fix my life. I may keep this strength and use it freely until I'm satisfied, however long that may be. What if I wanted a hundred years, or two hundred?"

Grima shrugged. " **I can put myself to sleep once we're actually joined.** "

"And in this time," I said. "My mind would be my own. I would not be-" I was about to use the word _compelled_ , but I remembered Grima's reaction to that word and adjusted quickly, "- affected by any of your thoughts?"

" **Yes.** "

"And my payment is…"

" **Your mind. You will apply your mind to my causes, afterwards, whatever they may be. I cannot give you specifics because I do not know them. But there will be destruction. Glorious, glorious destruction.** "

As generalized as it was honest.

"Now I'm not saying that I'd do this, but I'm curious. What would stop me from taking your deal, and then just refusing to help in the future?"

Grima gave a very dark smile. " **We would be strongly linked after hundreds of years. Let me just say it would be a bad idea and you would regret it as the single worst mistake of your life until the end of time itself.** "

… As generalized as it probably was honest.

" **Any other questions?** "

"Yes." I waited for Grima to wave me on before I continued. "I assume that if we work together, I'll be calling tactics, directing your strength to conquer your country-of-the-week." Mother crossed her arms and looked sideways at me. She probably didn't like the fact that I was even considering Grima's offer. She didn't say anything, though.

" **That's the intention, yes**."

"But the most efficient path to victory is rarely going to be one of outright combat. Like you mentioned before, if we want to take over a country," Mother's lips tightened, "I can guarantee that I _will_ ask you to destroy their leadership and spare the innocents. Not because it's in my nature," I added hurriedly when Grima frowned. "Or not _just_ because of that. It's because that actually may be the most efficient path to victory. Destroying leadership, guerilla warfare and so on."

Grima crossed its arms. " **That doesn't sound like what I want.** "

I waited as Grima thought.

" **So it's not really the most efficient victory I want, then,** " it mused.

"Not victory as _I'd_ define it, rather," I tossed in. "Our definitions of victory are probably different."

Grima nodded slowly. " **I suppose I'd want you to find a way to rile up a world against me, and** _ **then**_ **find the most efficient way to destroy them.** " Grima nodded again, firmly this time. " **Yes, the most efficient path to maximum destruction. That is what I want. That is my victory.** "

Well, at least now we knew what Grima wanted. I couldn't say the same of myself. What would I do with Grima's powers if I got them? Help fix this world? I could become the Queen of Plegia. Hell, I could probably unite the world under tyranny and force a utopia upon them. A world of non-violence, punishable by dragon-fire. Hypocrisy, true, but I wasn't an idealist.

Or I could go the opposite way and just live with mother. We could settle wherever we wanted, once I wrested control of the Grimleal from Validar.

No more travelling from village to village. I wouldn't ever have to watch mother swallow her pride and beg for a place to stay when coin was tight. No more worrying about whether I'd go to sleep and wake up seeing a hunter standing over Mother's corpse. All for the low, low cost of dooming a few of the infinite worlds in the Outrealms.

I rationalized it. They'd probably be destroyed anyway. How much could I honestly improve Grima's destructive efficiency? It wasn't as if I could _stop_ Grima. It wasn't as if accepting Grima's offer was really _evil_. Grima would still exist, with or without me, it would still destroy.

Neither of these options really appealed to me. But the status quo sucked, too.

There was silence for a while, broken by voices only I could hear.

 _Please…! You ha…! Chr…!_

"Mom." I broke the pseudo-silence. _What should I do_ , I wanted to ask. But I already knew her answer. She'd tell me it was my decision. She wouldn't stop me no matter what I chose.

And so I asked something that I didn't realize was worrying me until now.

"If I… If I accepted Grima's offer, would you stay with me?"

There was a sharp intake of breath from Grima, surprise clear on its face.

Mother closed her eyes tightly for a few seconds. "Robin, just in case this is a factor, you don't have to agree to anything because you're afraid for me." She opened her eyes. "Your decision really should be your own."

"I'm asking for my own sake. If I k-" I took a deep breath. "If I killed Validar and I had Grima's powers and I asked you to stay with me so we could live our lives together, would you stay with me?"

"Oh, you stupid girl…" Mother let out a sigh. "I- yes, Robin. If you were still you, I'd stay with you forever, so long as you wanted me. Does this mean you-"

" _No_." I said firmly. "No, I'm not decided on _anything_ yet, I'm just trying to figure out what I want. If I accepted Grima's offer I would want it to mean something, I would want to accomplish something, and I'm just realizing that I have no idea what I want in life."

" **For a tactician, you're surprisingly indecisive** ," Grima noted.

"Choosing your goals isn't a decision to make lightly. I'm actually a little impressed at how certain _you_ are with what you want," I admitted. I saw a strange expression come over Grima's face. "Just give me one more minute to think, please."

Mother would stay with me if I asked it. The thought was reassuring, an immovable rock in my mind. She'd stay with me- but would she be happy? She'd run from Validar in the first place to get me away from the Grimleal. Granted, that was probably because of the 100% fatality rate for Vessels which didn't really apply now that we had Grima in front of us.

Would this make her happy? Would this make me happy?

Was I OK with my life as it was, this powerful mix of good and terrible times? Even with the threat of Validar hanging over our heads, life had gone on. Would it really improve so much with Grima's strength? Was it worth the cost?

Who was Robin? What did she want?

 _This is it._

I took a deep breath. "Right. I know my answer."


	3. Chapter 3

Grima and mother were both feigning indifference, but they were leaning in a bit towards me. I felt that there should have been an accompanying thunderstorm to go with the magnitude of what was being decided today, but I was stuck with that obnoxious wailing in the air.

 _Chr…! Chro…! CHRO…!_

There was only one way I could ever have answered, I think. No matter how many variations of this conversation I could've had in hundreds of parallel universes, I think almost every Robin with time to think would come to the same decision. That is, I felt confident with my answer.

"I won't accept your offer."

This world had never been particularly kind to me. But it had given me mother. Mother, who wouldn't judge me no matter what I chose, who would stay with me forever.

She'd done everything for me. And I knew despite what she said, she didn't want me going down this road. She'd be happier this way. So what if she wanted me to make my decision for myself? Screw that. If I wanted to base my decision on her happiness, I would. Two could play at this game.

Mother let out an explosive sigh of relief, and then she caught me staring at her. Her cheeks actually tinged red a little, but she gave me a level stare, daring me to say something.

In a surprising bout of wisdom, I kept my mouth shut. Seeing that expression on her face… I felt I made the right call.

Grima, on the other hand, looked at me incredulously. " _ **Why?**_ "

"Because…" I started.

 _Because I don't give a damn about being destined for greatness. Because this life is OK, and I know how to count my blessings. Because I want to care for mother's feelings the same way she cares about mine._

I didn't say any of that.

"I guess it's a part of who I am," I finished instead.

Grima's stare intensified. " **Who you are may** _ **change**_ **in the future. Validar is multi-tasking to revive the Grima in this timeline, but once he is free of distractions, you'll really have an entire nation looking for you. Do you think** _ **who you are**_ **will help you then?** "

"Then we just won't get caught," I answered, filing away the information that Validar would soon gain enough political power to control Plegia's armies. "Clearly, whatever future me did failed. But I can work with that." We'd never seriously considered evacuating to Valm, what with all the rumors of outright war, but that was the lesser of two evils now. Plegia's hold was insignificant, there.

The issue now was getting Grima to accept my answer. I considered my next statement carefully. It was dangerous, but I knew Grima wouldn't leave this conversation without some kind of concession.

"I would rather leave merger as a contingency," I said.

" **Bah. Don't try to string me along** ," Grima said, and I suppressed a wince. It was worth a shot. **"Do you realize how many people would kill for this opportunity? How many people** _ **have**_ **killed for this opportunity, how much pain has gone into even making this merger** _ **possible**_ **for us?** "

"I didn't ask for any of this," I defended.

" **You're squandering your potential!** " Grima said, and I could hear the frustration clear in its voice." **You're making the wrong choice!** "

I could feel this getting out of hand. "Look," I said. "Merging isn't a decision to make lightly. You're right, I don't know the future, and clearly something rough goes down in a few years. But you were willing to wait inside my head if I wanted to live my life with mother. If you agreed to that deal you'd be waiting decades!"

I modulated my tone to my best mix of reason and empathy. "Compared to that, is it really so bad just to wait a few more years to see how the situation changes? If things really become so dangerous, or if my priorities change, then I may need to rely on your strength."

" **Wait too long, and you'll be past your prime and unable to merge** ," Grima said.

"It looks like your current body is only a few years older than Robin's," mother pointed out. "She has that long, at least."

Grima actually growled at her, but closed its eyes and visibly restrained itself. " **Fine** ," it ground out. " **But you had many close encounters with death in my timeline, Robin. It was just as much luck as skill that brought you alive to me. In this new timeline, you may not get so lucky. What will you do when some two-bit assassin gets in a lucky hit? If you die** _ **before**_ **you are able to merge, if you cannot merge even if you wish it?** "

That was a fair argument. "It's a risk I'll admit I'm taking," I conceded slowly.

" **You're risking Godhood. Don't be a fool!** " Grima snapped.

"You seem to be pushing hard for a now-or-never deal," Mother noted quietly. She didn't say anything else, but if Grima's suddenly tight expression was anything to go by, she'd said something significant.

Did I just miss something?

I tried re-evaluating our most recent dialogue in a different light. Grima was giving me reasons to merge immediately. Grima was giving me reasons… Grima, a being that by all accounts didn't care about reason. Sure, that was strange, but in the context of time-travel…

Of course. It came together as fluidly as any puzzle game I'd ever played.

Grima had competition.

There was only one Robin available to bring a Grima up to its maximum potential. But there were two Grimas. A dormant one native to this timeline, and an awakened, weakened Grima in front of me.

"That's right…" I said slowly. I didn't state my conclusions. I was pretty sure we were all on the same page. If I left this encounter without merging, then from future-Grima's perspective, there were good odds that I'd eventually go to the Grima of this timeline.

That meant Grima probably wasn't going to take no for an answer.

" **Robin** ," I could hear the effort Grima was putting into controlling its voice. " **I am offering you rather generous terms. You know nothing of Plegia's plans. I am giving you a way out.** "

I didn't want it, though. I just wanted to live with mother in peace. I was okay with that, damnit!

But as much as I wanted to say that, I couldn't. Now that it was the moment of truth…

I noticed my hands starting to shake.

I didn't want this conversation to escalate, but the moment I gave a firm "no"… I knew what would happen.

" **Sooner or later, you'll end up at the Dragon's Table. Robin,** _ **do not be a fool!**_ "

Mother could sense my hesitation. "She's made her decision," Mother said, stepping in front of my and partially shielding me from Grima's view. I could feel my control of the conversation slip back to mother, and I felt a mix of relief and shame at hiding behind her. "She'll wait and see what the future holds. If you truly desire a partnership with her, respect her decision."

" **Bah!** " Grima's anger warped the voice of my future self. " **For supposed geniuses, why must you two be so** _ **stupid**_ **?!** "

"Let it be," mother said quietly.

" **No** ," Grima snarled, and then again in a softer tone to match mother, " **No**. **Do you want to know something interesting? I don't think I've ever genuinely made such an offer to anyone in the entirety of my existence.** "

"Grima-" I began.

" _ **Silence**_ **.** " The air around Grima pulsed in time as Grima spoke, amplifying the wails in the background.

 _For… never… Chr…! I-_

I cut my losses and shut up.

" **Here's something else you might not know, dearest Robin** ," Grima continued. " **When I took over your future self in the delirium of my Awakening, well, it was a job poorly done. I don't know what exactly happened to her.** "

Mother flashed a hand-signal to me under the pretense of adjusting her stance. _Follow my lead. 1-2-1._

" **But!** " Grima punctuated with an upraised finger, " **I'm honestly a lot better now at mental manipulations than I used to be.** "

I had a sinking feeling I knew where this was going. Grima began to walk towards us, and we slowly back-stepped in equal measure.

" **So if I decided to try my hand at taking over your mind again, why, I might not even need your cooperation! Isn't that** _ **interesting**_ **?** " Grima asked, faux-cheerfully. It closed its eyes as if in recall. " **And to think-** "

Mother's casting hand darted up, and without a word, a spear of electricity snapped into existence in her palm. In one smooth motion, she hefted it like a javelin and launched it towards Grima-

 _Crack-THOOM!_

 _-_ slamming it in the face. Grima staggered and backpedaled, eyes snapping open in surprise as it sought to regain its balance, but I was already in motion. Fluidly stepping in front of mother and calling upon the might of Thunder, I suppressed the familiar jolts and jitters I felt at the power coursing through my body. My blood was pounding in my ears, and I let my panic and adrenaline accelerate the formation of my attack, electricity coruscating in my hand with manic glee.

With a touch less elegance than mother, I aimed as best I could at Grima's torso and let loose with a cry of, " _Thunder!_ "

A ball of light whipped through the air towards my target. Grima recovered quickly and raised its arms to ward off the blow, barely flinching from my attack. That was fine. All I was really aiming to do was to buy an additional second for my much more skilled mother to ready a follow-up attack. Speaking of whom…

" _Thoron!_ "

A second spear of light screamed through the air almost immediately after my own meagre attack, and while Grima was able to catch it on its arms I could see it jerk back from the force of the blow. Gritting its teeth, Grima gave a wordless roar, shoving its arms outwards in defiance of our attacks before I could gather the energy for another Thunder.

I heard the wind pick up and I saw the grass around Grima flatten outwards in a rush towards us.

"Brace yourself!" Mother called, not that I needed the warning. Shielding my face with my arms, I grunted at the sudden rush of wind that swept my hair back in a frenzy.

Grima held the roar for a few more seconds, as if to make a point, then let its yell die down. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding as the wind died.

"… Was that supposed to accomplish something?" I murmured to mother.

"Intimidate, probably," she answered curtly. Then, in a hardened tone, "Now _run_!"

Either I was more terrified than I thought or the command in her voice reached me on some instinctual level. I was moving before I could finish processing the words, running away from Grima in the general direction I knew Southtown to be in. I looked back and saw mother fan out an Elfire spell on the grass between herself and Grima as a distraction, even as she pivoted and ran to follow me.

Grima seemed taken aback by our retreat, but it only lasted a few seconds before its expression darkened. " **Idiocy!** " it growled loudly. With a slash of an arm, a harsh gust of wind blew in and smothered the flames. They flickered and died.

Then it gave chase, even as mother caught up to me. We'd be lucky if we had a hundred paces on it.

I kept my eyes on the ground ahead of me, picking the flattest surfaces to land on to leverage every possible millisecond I could as my brain whirred. What the hell were we supposed to do? I shot back periodic glances and felt a jolt of adrenaline as I realized that Grima seemed to be gaining on us slowly.

I made the mistake of making eye contact with it for a minute. The voices in the air seemed to swell again as I did.

… _CHRO-! You have to-!_

"Eyes ahead," Mother ordered, sounding out of breath as she sprinted beside me. She was glancing back at Grima as well, and I could hear her hiding her worry as she added, "… it's gaining on us. Any plans?"

I thought furiously as I ran. Had Grima given away any weaknesses so far? It seemed to be able to control the wind without the use of a tome, so it always had some range available. I was sure that wasn't the extent of its powers, even in this weakened state.

Let's see… it wasn't an excellent tactician. It had used the air in some kind of roar attack that, while showy, hadn't done any real damage. That might've just been a statement as to its power reserves, though, if it could throw around that strength without thinking anything of it.

There was this damn voice in the air, still haunted and wailing.

 _CHR…! Please for… I'm so…!_

But I had no idea what it was, what it meant or how to go about using it. Argh… hadn't there been something else?

"Hey Naga," I managed in between breaths. "If you can hear me… if you or any children of yours want to come our way, I'd really appreciate it!"

Mother shot me a quizzical look, before I saw comprehension dawn. Grima had mentioned something about Kids of Naga, hadn't it?

"If Grima gets a hold of me, I don't think it'll be good for Ylisse," I continued aloud. "I'm on your side here, but if you want to stop your old enemy from reviving-" I had to stop speaking to restore my breath. Grima was getting close, maybe twenty paces. "Now's the time to do something!"

There was no answer, save for the now-familiar voices in the air that seemed to echo from Grima.

"Please!" I prayed. "Naga, if Grima's here you've got to do something!"

For a fleeting moment, I thought I heard a murmur in the winds, an answer that wasn't those haunted voices.

The moment passed. No divine voice answered my calls.

Grima was close enough to overhear my words. " **Really, Robin** ," it called out, not sounding out of breath at all. " **I'm offended. If you want to pray, your God is right here!** "

And then, with a whoosh of air, it _leaped_ , arcing well over myself and mother and landing in our path.

We all came to a stop.

" **Robin, please** ," it said, eyeing me in disappointment. " **You're making this much harder than it needs to be for everyone**."

"Speak for yourself," mother said, and then more quietly to me, "Robin… keep running to Southtown, and don't turn back."

Grima sighed. " **Fine,** **enough drama**."

It raised its hand and everything went to hell. The ground shook, and mother jumped out of the way as black spikes erupted from the earth beneath her. A second hand directed a blast of wind at me before I could react, stronger than anything I'd felt before, and I fell down in a heap.

I heard the crackle of a Thoron as I regained my feet, looking up in time to see Grima block the spell with its arms raised in an X. It deftly sidestepped a second blast by a hair, the howling light scorching the ground behind Grima.

"Damnit, Robin, _run_!" Mother cursed as Grima retaliated with its own thunder magic, a bolt of lightning falling from the clear sky to strike where mother had stood a moment before. Grima now stood between us.

Grima looked back and gave me a sardonic smile. " **Yes Robin, go ahead and abandon the woman who gave up her life for you.** "

I grit my teeth, but… I couldn't do anything here, and the world was at stake. Feeling like an utter craven, I turned and fled, trying to leave the sounds of battle behind me.

I hadn't been running for more than a half-minute when I clearly heard mother cry out in pain. I closed my eyes, and my vision was blurred with tears when I reopened them. I kept running, darting off to the East to throw off Grima's pursuit.

It caught up to me a minute later.

* * *

" **You actually ran** ," Grima said. I couldn't tell if the surprise in its voice was genuine, or deliberately placed to make me feel worse. " **I didn't think you had it in you**."

There was blood on the robes of my future self. I didn't think it was Grima's.

My limbs were shaking, whether from fatigue or fear I didn't know, but my voice was steady when I looked up at it. "Go to hell."

I charged the fastest Thunder spell I'd ever charged in my life, flinging it into Grima's face, but it barreled through the attack with only a wince and grasped my face with both its hands.

" **Enough.** **Return to me** ," the God said to the Vessel.

The warm sunlight, the scent of the grass, even the feel of the wind upon my skin…

All of it was absorbed into the dark.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Experimenting with different chapter lengths. This one's quite a bit shorter, but I was able to write it in one quick sitting, so I think I might stick with this. The only problem is I don't get to revisit it and check for errors with a fresh mind. Ah well, c'est la vie.**

 **Let me know how you feel about the story! I'm always looking for feedback!**

* * *

I don't know how long I waited in the grips of darkness. I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't see anything. My mind was clouded, my thoughts were sluggish. It felt as though I were falling asleep. I fell, deeper and deeper into the dark…

When I awoke, it was to find Castle Plegia in chaos.

All-out battle. A band of soldiers, some of them marked as Ylissean nobility, were engaged with a veritable army of monsters inside the castle walls. The creatures were humanoid enough, for the most part, but no living being should have been able to fight with rotting flesh and severed limbs.

" _Pick a God and pray!_ " A heavily armored knight galloped at a pair of the abominations, a myrmidon and a mage, spearing the sword-wielder in the chest. His momentum carried him into the undead mage, impaling it. With a fierce tug, he withdrew his lance from the pair and drew off in search of new foes, leaving his old targets for dead.

He didn't see the mage rise, ignoring the gaping wound in its chest as it raised a shaky arm to charge what seemed to be a Bolganone spell.

 _He'll be fried!_ I cried out a warning to the knight as quickly as my addled mind would allow me, but as I tried to dash towards him I ran up into a barrier that repulsed me with an electric shock.

"Naga damn it!" I swore, falling back on my rear. Cradling a singed arm, I was relieved to see a young Pegasus knight swoop in to finish off the mage before it could cast.

" _For Ylisse!_ " she cried, swinging her lance like a sword and actually managing to behead the creature.

The knight glanced back, somehow picking up on her voice among the rest of the chaos of the battlefield, and nodded gratefully at her before engaging a new foe.

I took a deep breath as I stood and did what I should've done as soon as I woke up, taking stock of my surroundings. Looking upwards, I could _feel_ , more than see, a powerful barrier separating me from the battle ahead. It stretched up to the ceiling of the castle. I wouldn't have to worry about becoming an immediate casualty of war, isolated from the fight as I was.

But how did I get here? My memory was a little fuzzy, but the last thing I remembered was…

"This isn't over, damn you both!"

I spun around instinctively at the voice, and froze when I saw _him_. Even on his knees, awash in purple flames and gasping out his final attack, somehow, I knew…!

Validar!

A sphere of dark magic flew from his hands, aimed at the back of a young blue-haired warrior. A hooded mage who had been recovering on the ground staggered to their feet to shove the warrior out of the way, taking the attack in his stead.

 _Those robes…_

Validar collapsed and the hooded mage let out a familiar sounding groan.

 _There's no way…_

"Robin!" the warrior cried, and I started when I heard my name. But he was dashing towards the hooded mage. Towards… another me?

"Are you alright?" he asked. I couldn't hear the other Robin's answer, but the warrior gave a tired smile, gesturing at Validar's fallen body. "I think that's the end of him. Thanks to you we carried the day. We can rest easy, at long last…"

I felt a shiver of fear. I was forgetting something, something very important.

I had just been fighting with Grima, hadn't I? And now here I was, witnessing a battle between Validar and myself, allied with Ylisseans. Was this the future that other-me had lived?

And if so… what had Grima said, again?

 _Validar used sorcery to turn you against an ally. Your shock let me overwhelm your mind._

"Hey," the warrior said, concern marring his face as the other me groaned incoherently. "What's wrong? Hold on!"

I felt my eyes widen as realization struck me like a thunderbolt. "She's being possessed, get away from her!" I cried out, but it was too late.

 _Ksswhip!_

My future-self impaled the warrior with a spear of light.

"Gragh!" the warrior staggered back, grasping at the spell lodged in his chest. The hood fell off of the head of my future self, and I could see her face clearly. She looked at her own crackling fingers in quiet confusion, before turning to the warrior. I saw comprehension slowly dawn in her eyes as the warrior fell to a knee.

"This is-" the warrior choked out, "-it's not your fault. Promise me… you'll get away from this place-"

Then he collapsed, hand outstretched towards the other-me.

"Chrom…?" she whispered. "No, no, nononononono…!"

Her face was twisting in rising horror even as she approached his body, the battle on the other side of the barrier forgotten. She rummaged through her pockets frantically, pulling out a bottled Elixir and bringing it to the warrior's – to Chrom's – mouth.

"Hey," she said, her voice shaking. "Hey, drink up, you've got to drink…" But her fingers were trembling, and the bottle slipped out of her hands, cracking on the hard floor. The elixir spread on the ground next to her amidst shattered glass, wasted.

"D-damn it," she swore. "Hold on, Chrom, I- I can fix this, I swear, I just need-" she fumbled with another bottle that she pulled from another pocket, tipping the liquid a bit more carefully into Chrom's mouth with one hand and cradling him with another.

"C-Chrom, you've got to swallow it," she said. "Can you hear me? Give me some kind of sign if you can hear me. Anything!"

Chrom didn't stir. I hadn't expected him to, and I don't think future-me expected him to, either. I… had no idea what to do right now.

"Hey," I reached out to tap her shoulder. "Robin, listen to me-"

"Chrom," she pleaded, ignoring me. "Chrom, you have to wake up! Please! We all need you! I need you! Without you, what am I…" she hiccupped.

I hesitated, a little too unnerved to touch her.

"Ah, Lucina!" Other-me brightened up. "Lucina and Morgan still need their father, and you promised that you'd make it back home, right? That means you have to get up, because you don't break your promises, right, Chrom? You have to wake up! You," she shook him gently, "you have to wake up!"

She was shaking.

"Chrom, I- Oh gods, I- I didn't mean to…"

And then she broke down.

"Chrom, CHROM!" she wailed. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, I never meant to-"

I realized, with a sudden jolt, that these were the same cries I had been hearing throughout my confrontation with Grima.

"Chrom, please wake up! You have to wake up! Please! Please-"

"Robin," I tried again. "Robin, _this isn't real_." But she ignored me, continuing to cry out Chrom's name. Could she even hear me?

"This can't be happening, we've come too far, you can't die like this, you promised! _You promised!_ " she screamed. And then, quietly, "You promised…"

"Robin," I said more forcefully. "You're trapped in a memory! This isn't real!"

It was no use. I watched helplessly as my future-self continued to break down in front of me. What else could I do? I shook her shoulder and found I could touch her, but she didn't acknowledge my presence, continuing to stare at Chrom with dead eyes.

The battle beyond the barrier was starting to wind down, seemingly a victory for the Ylisseans. Many of their number seemed to have fallen, if their faces and postures were any indication. As they were regrouping I was struck by a sudden sense of vertigo, and I reeled back, nauseous. I blinked a few times and shook my head-

" _Pick a God and pray!_ " the armored knight from before was charging an undead mercenary and mage. Ripping his lance from the bodies, he veered off to find another target. The wounded mage stood up to attack the knight from behind-

" _For Ylisse!_ " the same Pegasus knight swooped in to finish it off.

With a rising sense of dread, I turned around behind myself to see Validar collapse to the ground. Without hesitation, I ran towards Chrom and future-me, but I was too far away-

"Get out of the way!" I screamed at them. "Move! He's not dead!"

They didn't acknowledge my words. I guess they couldn't hear me. That didn't mean I was going to give up. Validar was closer to me, so I sprinted towards him as his body suddenly rose from the ground, wreathed in purple flame once more.

"This isn't over, damn you both!"

I tried to tackle Validar and phased right through him, tumbling and hitting the ground. I couldn't change anything. Events played out exactly the way they first had, future-me taking the blow and then stabbing Chrom. As her breakdown came to a close again, I felt another jolt of vertigo and-

" _Pick a God and pray!_ "

" _For Ylisse!_ "

"This isn't over, damn you both!"

"… not your fault. Promise me-"

"-so sorry! Chrom! Please-!"

Again and again. I tried breaking through the barrier. I tried using future-me's Thoron tome to no effect. I couldn't seem to touch anyone until future-me started breaking down, but even when I shoved her, she would go right back to Chrom's corpse and keep on crying.

"Wake up, damnit!" I snarled at her. "This isn't real! He isn't real!" Why was I even wasting my time with this Robin? She was likely just another figment of this memory.

I kicked at Chrom's corpse in a pique of anger.

Future-me got up faster than thought and shoved me to the ground, _hard_.

" _Don't_ ," she hissed, " _touch him!_ "


	5. Chapter 5

"Ow!" I couldn't help but let out a pained cry as my head hit the ground, blinking to clear my vision. "What the hell?"

Future-me's grip was tight on my robes. She leaned into my face far closer than I was comfortable with, eyes alight with a manic intensity. Teardrops still marred her face.

"You are not welcome here," she spat. She glanced at Chrom's fallen body, then back at me. "You have no right to touch him!"

"Um," I answered intelligently.

"I will ask you this once," she said. "Who are you and _how did you get in here_?"

I closed my eyes. Hells, enough screwing up. Now wasn't the time to get overwhelmed. When I was ready, I took a deep breath and opened my eyes again.

"I think I'm a past version of you," I said. "Grima travelled back through time. It wanted to claim me as a Vessel, even though it was already in your body, because it needs our mind and the journey back weakened it somehow."

I don't know how future-me managed to look so skeptical without changing her expression at all. "It's true!" I defended. "We negotiated, I decided I didn't want anything to do with it, and then it tried to claim me by force. It touched me, did something, I woke up here and now… well, here we are."

Future-me's grip slackened. "If you're not some aspect of Grima, then that's fine. But you don't touch Chrom again, clear?"

"Crystal," I said. Future-me dropped me and went back to kneel at Chrom's side, stroking his face mournfully. "Oh, Chrom…"

Hesitantly, I stood up, patting the dust off my shoulders. "So," I said, "mind explaining what's going on?" When future-me was silent, I tacked on, "For starters, I'm guessing that you're the Robin that ended up being overwhelmed by Grima. And we're either somewhere in your mind or Grima's. It can't be mine, since I have no memory of this event. Unless all of this, yourself included, is being conjured up by my head. Or I'm in some kind of weird hell."

Future-me didn't answer. I continued my train of thought. "I'm running with the assumption that this really is your head, or Grima's. Grima… what, pulled my mind into its body? But then what's happening to my body? And more importantly, why am I here?"

"Robin…" I said when she continued to ignore me. "Please, I need your help."

"Unless you're Chrom in disguise, quit bothering me," she said. She made a face, and then I felt the now-familiar tug of vertigo, of weightlessness, before-

" _Pick a God and pray!_ " The memory restarted, and I was standing back in the center of the room watching as a knight impaled two undead monsters. I turned around, observing the fight between Validar, Chrom and Robin. Future-me looked completely absorbed into the fight, but I wasn't fooled this time. Her eyes were always tracking Chrom. Her motions and attack patterns… she was completing them by rote, without even glancing at her enemy. Even as she staggered from Validar's final attack…

"You can hear me, can't you?" I accused. "No, more than that, you're doing this on purpose. Replaying this memory, again and again. Why? Why are you doing this to yourself?"

The last play-through of this memory, where future-me had finally reacted to my actions, had lasted longer than the others. It wasn't set on some automatic timer. I was willing to bet that my future-self was the key.

"Chrom…" she pleaded, kneeling next to his corpse. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry… please, wake up!"

"… It's for him, isn't it?" I slowly realized. "You… you're reliving this memory to stay with him?"

She ignored me, as per usual. I took a second to get my head in order.

Point one: my objective was to get out of this place and back into reality. I couldn't do it for myself.

Point two: future-me was the person most likely to be able to help me.

Point three: future-me was crazy and obsessed over Chrom. She mentioned children, so they might've been married.

 _Figure out how to use the information you have to meet your objective_. _Think, girl._

I approached my sobbing counterpart and knelt next to her in silent companionship.

"Please forgive me, Chrom, I'm so sorry!" she choked out.

I let her grieve as we kept a vigil over Chrom's cooling body. He seemed almost peaceful in death, despite the terrible way he'd passed. _So, this is who I married…?_

I wasn't blind. Half of the warriors outside the barrier were Ylissean nobility, and Chrom's upper arm was marked with the brand of Naga. Chrom must've been _the_ Chrom, the prince of Ylisse. I wondered what the story was behind that. For my future self to be so utterly distraught, seemingly driven mad by his death…

"… He must've really been something special," I remarked quietly when there was a gap in the crying. Chrom's eyes held no accusation, even in death.

Silence.

"I know what you said before, but would you mind if I…?" I gestured at Chrom's sightless eyes, and when my future self made no motion to stop me, I closed them gently.

Then I waited. I kept my eyes on Chrom, pretending to ignore my kneeling counterpart. She wouldn't care at all about me wanting to get out of this place. The only thing she probably cared about after years of living in this memory was her family.

This was about the point where this memory usually reset, but as I waited, nothing happened. As I suspected. Still, I said nothing, patiently waiting.

"He was," she said suddenly. "Special, I mean."

I tilted my head to look at the other me, staying silent.

" _You_ don't get to go and say that he's special," she continued, turning her head to meet my eyes. "You don't know anything about him, you don't know why he was special. _No one_ knew him like I did."

"You loved him greatly," I said, not making it a question.

"Fuck you," she said. "You don't know anything."

I evaluated her tone and decided to take a gamble, quickly changing my approach to our conversation.

"I know that you drove yourself into insanity over your guilt," I said harshly, and as my counterpart's eyes narrowed I drove on quickly, ruthlessly, "I know you let Grima take over and kill everyone else you cared about because-"

Robin growled, and I found myself shoved roughly off my knees and onto the floor without a word. The stone tiles scraped through my robes and against my skin as I found myself dragged telekinetically across the ground. I was pushed towards a wall, and I had to jerk my head away to stop it from getting bashed in. My future self stalked towards me, one hand held aloft as she worked whatever magic it was she was using. Her face was a rictus of fury.

" _Shut up_ ," she said. "If you're stupid enough to carelessly aggravate someone stronger than you, then there's no way in hell you're a past version of me."

I kept a calm façade up even as my heart hammered in my chest. Could I even have a heart, here? "And if you're letting me jerk you around by your emotions so easily, then there's no way in hell that you're a future version of me."

To my shock and to my future self's credit, she actually paused for a second.

"You abandoned your family," I said. "Lucina… and Morgan, was it?" Robin's fingers twitched, and I felt the pressure holding me against the stone walls of the castle tighten. "You left them alone. And that means you failed your Chrom."

Robin's eyes blazed. "Don't you dare-"

I'd pushed her enough.

" _But my Chrom is alive_ ," I finished.

She froze.

"My Chrom is alive," I repeated. "I need you to break out of this funk, Robin. My Chrom is out there, and if this memory is any indication, there's war coming to Ylisse. Chrom needs us to have our heads in the game."

The pressure keeping me against the wall slowly slackened.

"You really are me, aren't you?" she asked quietly. "Little me. So manipulative and clever."

The pressure abated completely and I fell from the wall with an _oof_.

"Please," I managed when I could, getting up from the floor again. "Please, Robin, I need your help for everyone's sake. I need a way to get back into my body."

"Why?" she said. "You're going to screw it up, just like I did. I was the gods-damned best and got lucky to boot, and I still lost to Grima."

At least she was talking to me. "I'm the best, too," I answered, "and now I know what's coming, I won't let Grima overtake me. I'll be ready for it."

My future self let out a snort of derision. "Fool. Grima isn't something that can be overcome with willpower alone."

"I have to try!" I argued back. "For mother, who's dead or dying out there. For us! For Chrom! What's the point in giving up?"

She hesitated. _Come on…!_

She closed her eyes and drew in on herself. "The point is sparing yourself the heartbreak and madness," she said tonelessly. She turned away and began the trek back to Chrom's corpse. "Do what you want, I don't care anymore."

 _Naga damn it all_. For a second I'd been close to convincing her, I could feel it! But she was slipping away from me now.

"Are you really going to give up on Chrom like that?" I called, running after her. I took a shot in the dark. "I bet he never gave up on you!"

"And look what it got him," she said without breaking stride or turning back.

"Gods damn it, me, don't throw this away! We've got another chance!"

She stopped to look back at me. Her expression was one of condescending pity. "Quit trying to change fate, stupid girl." And then she seemed to dismiss me, turning away again.

That did it. My future self was seriously pissing me off. To look down on me for trying my best, when she hid here from Grima crying over her mistakes. I felt my rage rise, but instead of tempering it, I let it surge freely.

"You gods damned craven!" I swore. "That's it? You're just going to hide here for the rest of your existence? You're not even going to try to take this chance?"

I was expecting her to at least call me out on my hypocrisy for letting emotions control me, but she didn't even do that. She ignored me fully as she walked away.

 _Quit trying to change fate, stupid girl_. I found myself gritting my teeth. _Quit trying to change fate, stupid girl_. _Quit trying to change fate, stupid girl_.

" _Anything can change!_ " I yelled at her back.

I don't know why, but she whipped around at that, eyes wide. I was so startled at her sudden reaction that I froze, too.

"What did you say?" she whispered.

I had a feeling that I'd missed something of great significance, but I said it again. Quietly, but with no less conviction. "Anything can change."

There was a long pause as Other Me looked into my eyes, searching for Gods-knew-what.

"… Haha… ahahahahahaha…" she began to laugh. I wasn't sure how to respond.

"Are you…" I was going to say _okay_ , but that was a stupid question, so I let myself trail off.

"Hahahaha!" she burst out. The peals of her laughter echoed through the castle, and for a few beautiful seconds I could see the woman that Chrom had probably fallen in love with.

She smiled as her laughter petered out. "Very well said!" she acknowledged cheerfully. "7 out of 10 on the delivery, little me."

 _Yes!_ I grinned. Now _that_ sounded like me. "Did you not hear the _passion_? That was at least a 9!"

"Hmph, don't get cocky," she sniffed with crossed arms. Then, hesitantly at first, but then with more confidence, she met my eyes again. "… You're right. _I'm_ the one acting a fool here. I'm sorry."

I felt a rush of relief. Future-me hadn't completely lost it, even after all this time. "I think it's understandable under the circumstances," I answered wryly. "Although, can I ask…"

"Why the hell I've been reliving this nightmare over and over?"

I paused. "Actually, I was going to ask what it was I said that changed your mind."

"Oh," she said. "Let's just say you reminded me of something important."

I raised an eyebrow.

Future-me rolled her eyes. "Right, playing cryptic with myself is probably stupid. 'Anything can change' was sort-of one of Chrom's mottos."

This time I was the one caught flat-footed. "Oh…" I trailed off, not sure what to say.

She gave me a weak smile. "If you're worried about saying the wrong thing and losing my potential assistance-"

"I totally am," I piped in honestly.

"-Then don't worry about it. We're on the same side, and I've grieved long enough. Chrom can't afford for me to be so selfish."

I felt a little awkward at the affectionate way she said his name. "He was your husband, right?"

"Yes," she said. "But now's not the time to discuss that. I'm not sure _how_ skewed the flow of time is, but it _is_ passing while we speak here."

"So we really are-" I began.

"Stop. Let me summarize the situation to save time," Robin's suddenly brisk tone reminded me of mother. "Yes, you're in Grima's mind. This one room is the only little bit of real estate I have in it, and in here, I have some measure of strength."

She gestured around herself, and I noticed that the entire battlefield had gone silent. The victorious Ylissean soldiers and few remaining undead had frozen, completely unmoving.

"The rest of my mind is mostly Grima's domain. I don't think he can see us in this room. I don't know exactly when it was that I first ended up here, when reality and this dream-world changed places, but I'm sure it was soon after Chrom died."

She grimaced. "I was so overcome that I didn't notice Grima slowly overtaking my mind. And I honestly didn't care, with Chrom dead. I've been reliving this memory both as a way to continue hiding my presence from Grima, and because I'm a masochist."

I nodded faintly.

"I think Grima's remodelling your mind as we speak, making it habitable for itself. I don't know what's going to happen to _this_ body and mind-"

"It did say we'd 'become one' when he was trying to recruit me," I thought aloud.

"So some kind of fusion," Robin concluded. "One of us can try to hold the way open back to your body, while the other one of us runs back and tries to fight for control with Grima. Obviously, that's going to be me and you respectively."

"Thank you for not joining in on the power-play for control of my body," I said.

"Hah. It'd be amazing to live again, plus I'd be able to beat down Plegia and Valm in a cinch," my future self said with a smile. "But even ignoring the moral issues, Grima's mind is hostile to us. Someone _needs_ to act as a support, and I've got some experience with handling mindscapes while you have none."

I took a deep breath. "So there's actually a way out."

Her smile dimmed a bit. "Fraught with risk, but yes."

"Well, I don't think there's a worse outcome than this," I said, gesturing at the two of us standing in the middle of a frozen memory.

A frown replaced her smile. "Don't be stupid. If Grima gets a hold of either of us, me especially, and breaks us…"

I gulped. "Would it be able to use our knowledge and abilities without our consent, if it found us?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to find out," Robin said flatly. "But I don't think continuing to hide is a good idea, either. If Grima gains new powers from taking your body, then there's no hope for anyone, especially seeing as we'll both be out-of-commission."

"Hmm… Grima mentioned something about kids of Naga travelling through time," I said. "Assuming they're allies… I know it's relying on a wildcard, but should we leave Grima to them?"

A look of realization crossed Robin's face. "Kids of Naga… if they're who I think they are…" Her face hardened in determination. "No, they can't handle Grima without us. This is a risk we'll have to take."

I opened my mouth to ask for details, but Robin cut me off. "The children of the current Shepherds of Ylisse, most likely. Minor questions later. If we want a chance of getting you out of here, you're going to have to learn about how to handle mindscapes. So listen closely…"

* * *

 **A/N: Probably one more chapter to go. Let me know how this chapter flowed! Was there too much happening, or was it understandable?**


	6. Chapter 6

Outside of Robin's sanctum, her mindscape was a nightmare. I'd expected as much, with Grima having corrupted it, but even so…

"What the hells," I panted, "did Grima do to your head, Robin?"

The faceless man trying to stab me with a bloodied knife wasn't even close to the creepiest thing I'd seen in the last 5 minutes.

Duck, weave, backstep, backstep –

The man jerked in place as a silver blade protruded from his chest. From behind him, Robin sighed, pulling back her blade with a vicious tug before decapitating the creature.

"I may have underestimated the effects a powerful dragon could have on a mortal mind," she admitted. The corpse flailed on the ground, searching for its head. I pried the knife from its hands, tossing it far behind me.

The knife halted in midair, turning back around to rocket at me.

"For Naga's sake," I swore. Robin raised a hand and the knife lost its momentum, cluttering harmlessly to the floor in front of me.

"Don't say that name aloud," my future counterpart said. "I think it attracts attention. And you're breathing hard again."

 _Whoops_. I shook my head and followed after my future self as she resumed a dash through the corridors of what had once been Castle Plegia. Faint red light streamed in from windows perched high above us.

She was setting an inhuman pace, outstripping me in a matter of seconds. I forced myself to change my thinking. _There are no limits on my body here. There is no reason I cannot run at double my normal speed_.

No, that type of thinking didn't work. It wasn't about reason or logic, it was about belief.

 _I_ am _running at double my usual speed._ I visualized myself bounding across the castle floor, and suddenly I was back at Robin's side. She gave me an approving nod.

"Anyway, back to the summary of the future," I said nonchalantly, as if I hadn't just broken through the limits of the human body.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the ability to will myself straight to the Dragon's Table, our current destination. In fact, I couldn't teleport at all. Robin could, but she wasn't able to move _me_. We'd also stopped trying to rearrange the castle walls to give us a direct path outside after a few near-disastrous attempts.

I was OK with that, though. This gave me time to exercise simpler powers, and time to talk with my future self.

"Right," Robin smiled. "So, General Yen'Fay of Chon'sin is actually being blackmailed to work for Walhart. Walhart holds his sister, Say'ri, as a hostage. Say'ri leads a resistance movement against Walhart, but her forces are scattered. Walhart could crush her, but he doesn't so long as Yen'Fay's cooperates."

"Got it," I said, committing the names to memory. "Optimal way to break Walhart's leverage?"

"Walhart's tactician, Excellus," Robin answered. We turned a corner to see an eight-headed dog, roaring savagely. Robin didn't even blink. With a flick of her fingers, the beast crashed into the stone wall on our right. It snapped at our feet as we passed it, but wasn't able to rise again.

Robin didn't even have the decency to hide her laugh as I shot her an envious look. "Excellus is an overconfident slimeball, but he's passable at his job. He's actually the one blackmailing Yen'Fay, not Walhart. He can teleport, though I don't know the particulars of how he does it. You need to exploit his overconfidence. Bait him into a meeting, eliminate him, and Say'ri should be safe."

I raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't have anyone poised to kill Say'ri as soon as he dies, as a deterrent? Some kind of dead-man's switch?"

"He didn't in my timeline," Robin answered. I snorted.

Robin smiled and rolled her eyes. "I know, right? It's like they just _give_ out the title of tactician these days."

Robin continued to ply me with foreknowledge as we traversed the halls of the castle, encountering a number of fantastical monsters and impossibilities. At one point, I cried out in alarm as the floor beneath us simply flickered and disappeared. With a burst of adrenaline, I clutched at a windowsill even as I felt the support of the ground beneath me vanish.

Hanging from the sill with both of my hands, I glanced down. Darkness stretched endlessly beneath me. "Robin!" I called out desperately. "Are you alright?"

I felt my panic rise when there was no answer. "Robin, please! Answer me!"

" _Ah-hem_."

I finally looked up to see Robin eyeing me askance, as she stood sideways with her arms crossed and her feet planted firmly _on the wall_.

I blushed, recalling her brief lessons. _Right, mindscape means mind-over-matter_.

I changed my perception of reality. I wasn't hanging in the air, I was lying on the ground. The blackness underneath me wasn't underneath me at all, it was actually the wall next to me.

Gravity re-asserted itself with my change in understanding, and I was able to stand up again. What had once been a window was now a small hole in the ground, leading to the outside world. I tried not to think about that too hard.

Robin sauntered over to me with a grin on her face. "Shut up," I said pre-emptively. "Just don't."

"But your concern for me was so _cuuute_ ," she said, drawing out the word and hugging me.

I groaned and hit my face with my palm, hiding my own smile. I appreciated Robin's efforts to keep my spirits up. It was as practical as it was kind; in this mindscape, pessimism would only twist the world around us further.

"Jerk," I grumbled, trying to act grouchy and failing miserably. "C'mon, we've got ground to cover."

Fortunately, it became safe to reassert "normal" gravity later on. I didn't want to think about what would happen if we walked outside with a skewed orientation. You could only change your perception so far before ingrained beliefs turned against you.

* * *

The world outside was just as bad as I'd estimated from my few glimpses out of the castle's windows.

The sky was blood-red, the ground was a thoroughly unhealthy purple when it wasn't covered by sand, and undead warriors (Risen, I reminded myself) were _everywhere_. More importantly, though, at the Dragon's Table…

"As I suspected," Robin said grimly. "Grima's inactive. It's probably too preoccupied with taking over your body."

A massive black dragon sat unmoving over the Dragon's Table, red eyes gazing sightlessly into the horizon. I whistled.

"Gods… is that Grima's true form?" I asked.

"I'm reasonably sure it is," Robin answered absently, her eyes scanning her surroundings. "Alright, I think I've got us a path that'll help us avoid most of the Risen. We'll talk as we move."

"Do you think it's too inefficient to just fight our way to Grima?" I queried.

Robin nodded as she gestured for me to follow her. "You don't have enough experience to contribute to large-scale battles," she explained bluntly. It was a fair assessment. Combat in Robin's mind was limited only by your reflexes and how quickly you could think. I think that with even a few more hours to practice, I'd be a formidable opponent, but we didn't have that kind of time.

Robin led us from rocky outcrop to rocky outcrop, hunkering down with me every time a legion of monsters passed by.

I trusted her to guide us both well, keeping my eyes fixed on Grima. Could something that big be killed with conventional attacks? It didn't matter so much in this mindscape, but if I had to fight it in reality… what a hopeless battle that would be.

 _No_ , I cut off my negative thoughts. _Grima's not perfect. It's no genius, and I'm sure it has weaknesses_. Poisons? Possible, but that'd be difficult to test out. Did it have _physical_ weak spots? The eyes were a little too obvious; Grima would expect that.

 _No, that's not right_. I was going about this the wrong way. If Grima were able to take on its dragon form in reality, then that was the worst-case scenario. The goal here was pre-emptively preventing Grima's transformation. And the first step for that was regaining control of my body.

I noticed something unusual as I analyzed Grima.

"Robin," I whispered as we waited for an undead troupe to walk out of our sight range.

"Yes?"

"Are those _chains_ binding Grima's body?" They were so fine that I didn't notice them at first, but many of Grima's limbs were manacled. Silvery chains extended from them, disappearing far off in the red sky.

"Yeah, I noticed that, too," my counterpart said. "Do you have a theory as to why?"

"Hm… everything that I see here is a reflection of your mind, right?" I mused. "So that dragon is the key representation of Grima's presence in your mind."

Robin nodded.

"The obvious interpretation is that the chains represent restriction, meaning that Grima's power is being suppressed," I continued. "Perhaps it's Grima's natural state in your mind, since you aren't a willing Vessel."

Robin made a non-committal sound, gesturing for me to go on.

I frowned. "Although, if Grima's power was always suppressed and it still took over your world, even with a handicap… that doesn't sound right. Alright, I'll call that Possibility 1 and put it on hold right now."

Robin arched an eyebrow. "Okay, so what's possibility 2?"

"Do you know if those chains have always been here, or if they were just placed recently?" I asked.

"No idea," my future self answered. "I didn't once venture out of the room where we first met. Why?"

"Back in reality, Grima mentioned that he'd been weakened by travelling through Naga's gate," I said. "Perhaps this is the mental manifestation of Naga's power weakening Grima?"

"Yeah. That was my theory, too."

"The question, then, is whether or not that information is immediately usable," I said.

Robin frowned. "Anything that hampers Grima is a plus. I suppose all we need to do is make sure that we don't actively try to break those chains like idiots."

I nodded. Robin took a moment to survey her surroundings again, then gestured at me. _Follow_.

We broke out of cover and made a dash for the next rocky outcrop on the way to the Dragon's Table. There were a few Risen in our line of sight, but none of them noticed us.

I felt my tension rise as we drew closer and closer to the Table. Soon enough, there was no more shelter between us and the Table. The next dash was going to be straight for Grima.

Robin put a hand on my shoulder as I prepared myself mentally. "Alright, little me, we've got a chance for a last-second strategy session. Got anything you need to say?"

I let out a deep breath. "Yeah, macro-scale decision making. Did I screw up by not taking Grima's offer?"

I'd already told Robin the entirety of my meeting with Grima.

"No," she answered instantly. "Kiddo, almost everything wrong in our lives is directly or indirectly due to Grima."

"Joining with Grima _would_ have been one possible path to victory, though," I said.

"Hm. I remember that victory-by-any-means mentality," Future-me shook her head. "But just _calling_ something a victory doesn't make it so. Listen, Robin. If you sacrifice what _you_ want in order to achieve a 'victory', then what you achieved wasn't actually a victory at all."

I turned that over in my head silently.

"You wanted to live peacefully with mom without any fell powers, right?" Robin continued. "That was a fine goal. You don't rewrite your goals in the presence of a strong enemy. That's the easy way out."

I understood what my counterpart was saying. She may have been biased against Grima, but I felt like a small burden had been lifted from my shoulders. "I see. Thanks for the perspective."

Robin smiled. "No charge."

"But…" I hesitated. "That goal of mine is impossible to reach, now. Mother's dead. And I don't know what I want anymore."

Robin looked me in the eye. "Then why not take on my goal?"

"What?"

She nodded. "Protect Chrom, and defeat Grima."

I drew in a breath.

"I'm being straight with you, since we don't have too much time," she continued. "Chrom's a good man. I promise that you'll like him, at the least. And so long as Grima lives, you won't be safe anywhere. Take the fight to Grima, kid."

"I don't know if I can-"

 _GRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!_

"Ah!" I clapped my hands over my ears as a pained roar blasted through the skies. "Gods damnit! Did we take too long?"

That roar definitely came from the Fell Dragon. Grima's eyes were alight with a burning red and its maw was open, revealing a nest of needles. Even as I watched, the dragon stilled and closed its mouth. I could feel a tension in its posture that wasn't present before. Beside me, Robin was examining Grima intently.

"… I don't think the fusion is complete, yet," she said slowly. "That roar sounded more angry than triumphant. Ah, wait! Its eyes…"

I saw what my future self was trying to point out. Despite its burst of activity, the Fell Dragon's eyes still gazed blankly at something unseen.

"It still doesn't seem aware of its surroundings," I said wonderingly. "It's distracted by something! If we're going to act-"

"Yeah, no better time than now," Robin agreed. "Let's move!"

We burst out of cover for the last time and dashed straight for Grima, kicking up clouds of sand and dust.

"Faster, little me!" Robin urged.

 _I am the wind_ , I thought as calmly as my taut nerves would allow. My feet skipped across the sand. Grima became larger and larger in my vision. All I had to do was touch it…

"Damnation, stop!" my older self commanded, flinging out a hand to bar my way.

Trusting Robin, I ground to a halt beside her. A dozen Risen hands erupted from the ground in front of us, revealing hulking figures that seemed more dangerous than the earlier Risen we'd bypassed. I had a feeling that these warriors wouldn't be as easy to ignore.

"Deadlords," Robin growled. "My head is just a wonderful place to be today. Kid, don't forget your role. Leave the fighting to me!"

I nodded and stepped behind Robin. She had instructed me on some techniques to get me back into my body, but I needed a path to travel through. Right now, Grima was the only bridge between my mind and that of my future self, so I needed to come into contact with the dragon.

And Robin needed to keep everything off of my back long enough for me to survive the attempt.

I took a second to try out a game-changing tactic. Robin had said that re-writing the _environment_ in her mindscape was much easier than re-writing enemies with a semblance of life, but even so…

I imagined all of the Risen in front of me simply disappearing. I imagined that the way in front of me was clear. I believed it as strongly as I could, but nothing happened.

Ah, well. I'd wasted a few seconds of preparation time, but it was worth a shot. Fortunately, Robin had been more efficient with her time, conjuring up various weapons.

"Here I go!" Robin burst into action, hands blurring as 6 Thoron blasts screamed in different directions towards her enemies. With unnatural speed, the Deadlords leapt out of the way.

The closest undead, a massive berserker with a wicked-sharp axe, found his attempt at sidestepping blocked by a wall of earth that shot up from the ground. Robin grinned, but even as her spear of light arced to the berserker's face, the Risen melted into the ground.

So. The Risen didn't need to follow the laws of reality, either.

Keeping myself close to my future counterpart, I changed my thinking. I convinced myself that there was lava directly underneath where the Risen was hiding, envisioning the heat and power behind the burning magma. I even added contemptuous scorn to my thoughts.

 _That idiot Risen, travelling straight into a pool of lava!_

I didn't let uncertainty hinder my thoughts. Most of my other attempts at re-writing Robin's mindscape had worked out just fine. _We_ decided what happened in this world. I was rewarded for my efforts when a thoroughly burned berserker exploded from the ground, much of its flesh sloughing off with rivulets of lava.

 _It's still alive?_ Well, if it was a manifestation of Grima's will, then I suppose it wasn't impossible.

My future self was dealing with the other Deadlords. She blurred through a barrage of arrows and spells, sending out flurries of Thoron bolts as she moved. Robin's re-writings of her mindscape were more subtle than mine. The Deadlords stumbled over uneven terrain that had previously been smooth, and sudden gusts of wind regularly rocked their aim.

Sometimes, her work was less subtle. When lightning streaked out at her from the red skies, she raised her hand, and it rocketed off in an improbable direction to strike a Risen sage.

I didn't have time to marvel over my future self's mastery of this world. Though I contributed what I could with volleys of Thunder and Fire spells, I spent most of my time strafing around the Deadlords, trying to find a clean path to Grima.

An unhorsed paladin disengaged from Robin, probably giving up on attacking her. It charged me instead, brandishing a spear. I leapt back to create some distance and threw out back-to-back thunder spells, slowing its advance.

I didn't detect the assassin behind me until it impaled me on its blade.

 _When did it – argh!_

Pain blossomed. I felt cool metal slide between my ribs and rip out from my chest. I let out a surprised, choking gasp.

Robin was at my side in an instant, appearing in midair and swooping down to claim the assassin's head. With a smooth dodge, the Risen bounded back towards safety.

"Damnit, kid!" she said, scooping me up effortlessly with one hand while firing off spells with another.

"Sorry," I managed to gasp out. "I- I got careless. I'm-"

"Shut up," she said firmly. "You don't have a real body here. You're alright."

It was one thing to say I was alright. It was quite another to convince myself of it. Every breath _burned_. I closed my eyes and drew in a rattled breath, trying to ignore the pain in my torso.

 _Mind over matter_. Pain? What pain? There was no pain. There was no pain. There was no pain there was no pain _there was no pain -_

It took a dozen variations of me imagining myself healthy and uninjured, but eventually the agony subsided. The hole in my body disappeared without a trace. "I'm alright," I said aloud.

Robin managed to give me a tight smile even as she fended off a combination of throwing axes, javelins and Bolganone attacks. "Knew that wouldn't stop you, kid. Can I let you down?"

"Yeah," I said. Robin disengaged the Deadlords, blurring away from the fight and dropping me on my feet. The Deadlords didn't gave chase, watching us from a distance. Hm. They seemed to prioritize guarding Grima's body over attacking us. "Sorry about that," I added.

Robin snorted. "You're doing fine, kid. I've got a measure of the enemy, now, so it's time to get serious."

I blinked. "What the hell? You weren't serious, right there?"

Robin smirked. "I was mostly just scouting out their capabilities. We can pull this off."

I whistled. "How about a change of plans? Eliminate the enemy altogether and face Grima together, instead of you just holding them off for me?"

Robin pursed her lips. Behind us, I heard some groans as some wayward, lesser Risen were drawn towards the sound of conflict.

I raised my hand and channeled a Fire spell from a tome that certainly hadn't been crooked in my arm a few seconds ago, charring my enemies. Robin flicked her fingers absently, finishing them off with a brutal Arcthunder.

"Doubt it," she said. "I outright killed one of those Deadlords when you weren't looking, and trapped another underground. They both came back eventually. So I'm going to straight-up break in from their right flank. Just dash right in when I give you an opening. I'm sure I can cover you for long enough."

I nodded, massaging the area where I'd received what should've been a fatal wound. Time for round 2. "Lead the way."

Robin grinned. "Try to keep up, kid!"

And then she was off, kicking up a flurry of sand behind her as she dashed back into the fray with the Deadlords. For their part, the Risen snapped to attention instantly, their ranged fighters attempting to snipe off Robin with arrows, thrown weapons and magic.

For my part, I bounded as quickly as I could to Grima's right flank, staying well outside the range of the Deadlords. I had to keep on my toes to dodge a few sudden Mire spells, but I was largely safe as I waited for the opening Robin promised me.

Robin seemed to be getting more and more into the flow of battle. She was lunging and dodging and throwing out Thoron spears. Still, I couldn't see an opening. Robin could take a few of the Deadlords out of commission at any given time, but they healed almost as quickly as Robin did on the rare occasion that she took a hit.

Hm. What was she planning?

I spied the assassin who had previously wounded me approach Robin. Somehow, it seemed to blend in with the sands. It observed the battle carefully, waiting patiently for a chance to strike.

Robin was currently being pressed by what looked to be a swordmaster and two axe-wielding Deadlords. Behind them, a sage was healing their wounds as quickly as Robin dealt them.

Robin seemed to be falling deeper into a battle trance. She disappeared, manifesting a second later behind the sage and fluidly decapitating it with a vicious swing of her silver sword.

The assassin took this opportunity to finally jump at her exposed back.

"Robin," I cried. "Behind you!"

Robin didn't even blink, nor did she make any move to defend herself, instead committing to an attack on the swordmaster. Time seemed to slow down for me.

 _What the hell is she doing?!_

The assassin's blade arced closer to her spine. It wouldn't kill her in this world, but she still couldn't afford to make such careless mistakes. I prepared to dash forward, and although I had no mastery of the spell, I found a Bolting tome appearing in my hand in response to my subconscious desire for a long-range spell.

Even as I raised my hand to try the foreign magic, I knew I would be too slow. Why was Robin not reacting to the attack? It was as if she expected -

" _Think again!_ "

In the span of a heartbeat, a warrior appeared. Silver armour gleamed as the legendary Falchion parried the assassin's blade, deftly severing the Deadlord's arm.

Prince Chrom joined the battle alongside his Grandmaster, and together, they wreaked havoc on the Risen warriors littering her mind.

If that wasn't a clear opening, then I didn't know what was.

My body had already starting running. My mind, on the other hand, was trying and failing to suppress my astonishment.

 _How the hell is Chrom here?!_ I understood, intellectually, what had just happened. Robin didn't block the assassin's attack because in her mind, she didn't need to. When she was deep enough into the flow of battle, she simply _expected_ Chrom to be there to defend her, and her mindscape responded by conjuring up a likeness of him.

No, the clincher was that Robin needed to have a mental model of how Chrom would respond to everything in a fight. Creating one-time attacks and distractions like bursts of lava was easy. To continuously keep a manifestation of Chrom nearby… that was on a whole new level.

But the results spoke for themselves. Even in the few seconds it took for me to close with Grima, I could see that Robin's effectiveness in combat skyrocket with Chrom's support. The two were untouchable. Chrom was raw strength and speed, taking on all melee challengers foolish enough to get close to the pair. Robin was skill and precision, neutralizing all ranged attackers with her diverse spell-casting.

I had a feeling that fighting in reality would feel terribly slow and cumbersome, after exposure to even these few minutes of rapid combat in Robin's mindscape.

I took my last few steps to reach the Fell Dragon. I paid no mind to a Falcon Knight that tried to spear me from the air; a Rexcalibur spell from Robin forced it to swerve. The combat duo found their way towards me, dead-set on keeping me safe.

They were doing their part. It was time for me to do mine.

I rested a hand against Grima's massive hindleg and, for lack of a better word, reached out with my mind. I was relieved to find that, yes, I could actually feel _something_. I closed my eyes and tried to shut out the sounds of the pitched battle around me.

"Gwooaaarr!"

"Time to tip the scales!"

" _We're not done yet!_ "

 _Clear your head, girl_. I took a deep breath and began to meditate. The sounds of fierce combat became distant and muted. I visualized myself becoming one with the Fell Dragon in front of me, my body coming to rest inside of it. I let my consciousness grow and expand.

As I did, I could feel Grima's presence begin to enter me. I sensed a faint impression of curiosity, but I was too busy just _feeling_ Grima to think about it.

Angry. Confident. Stern. Amused. Unyielding.

Grima's will saturated everything around me, and my mind instinctively reeled back except there was _nowhere to hide_. I forced myself to calm down, to accept the overwhelming presence. I felt a potential for violence, a yearning for quick and decisive action. It was almost feral. No, _primal_ was the better word. But there was so much more to it than that.

Secure. Strong. A trace of doubt. Why the doubt? I dismissed it as unimportant.

Was this the true nature of Grima? Almost absently, I thought back on my earlier dialogue with the Fell Dragon. How did I have such a long, reasonable conversation with such a being? Grima's nature shouldn't have allowed it to bargain. I couldn't comprehend it. Grima was a being of action and pride.

Distantly, very distantly, I remembered Grima's words. " _ **I don't think I've ever genuinely made such an offer to anyone in the entirety of my existence**_ **."**

Yes. I could understand those words, now.

The sounds of battle had faded away completely. My eyes were closed, but I could almost see myself, awash in the vastness of Grima's presence.

Slowly, it seemed to focus in on me. Despite myself, I felt my awareness sharpen.

Then, Grima spoke, and its voice drummed loudly in the chambers of my consciousness.

" **Welcome back, Robin.** "

* * *

 **A/N:** Remember when I said there was only 1 chapter left? I lied.

I actually wasn't planning on writing this chapter at all. I was going to imply what happened in this chapter in a few simple lines, and then focus on the final encounter and ending. But dream-sequences or battles-in-the-center-of-the-mind are just too tempting to write. I love it when the rules of reality just break. Let me know how I did on that front! Was it too hard to follow?

Anyway, next chapter is _actually_ the last chapter. Promise.


	7. Chapter 7

I opened my eyes.

As I expected, I was no longer in Robin's mindscape. Open, blue skies stretched on endlessly in every direction. With a downwards glance, I confirmed that I was standing on air without falling. Unusual.

I turned around and came face-to-face with Grima. Not Grima possessing my body, but the true Fell Dragon. Three pairs of eyes focussed on me, emitting a bright glow. The Dragon was massive, easily thousands of time my size. Despite that, it was still bound in the same silvery chains I had seen before in my future self's mindscape.

Should I attack immediately? Combat in mindscapes was limited only by creativity and speed-of-thought. No, that was stupid. My first weapon was always information; no need to throw that option away.

Speaking of information, what did I know so far?

 _Point 1: Grima is present and hasn't attacked me. It is either incapable or unwilling to attack._

 _Point 2: I can't stand in the air in reality. I am therefore in someone's mind. This is either Grima's mind or my own, seeing as it looks nothing like my future self's mindscape._

 _Point 3: Grima just said "welcome back."_

Gods damnit. I went out on a limb.

"… Why have you erased my mindscape, Grima?" I asked neutrally. "I'm pretty sure this isn't what it's supposed to look like."

Grima's face wasn't human, so it wasn't open to standard interpretation. Still, if I had to label the flicker of emotion on its face, I'd call it "surprise." I took that as evidence I was correct.

The dragon _hmm_ ed and spoke without opening its mouth. Its voice echoed in the air. " **It was an accident.** " Well, that all but confirmed we were in my mindscape.

"Yeah, I figured," I said.

Grima actually blinked. " **… You believe me so easily?** "

I shook my head. "It's not a question of belief. It's logic."

" **Oh?** " Grima rumbled. " **How so?** "

It wasn't a conclusion I'd have been able to come to even an hour ago. But after having felt Grima's presence, I understood the God just a little more. Grima had become fed up with my refusal to ally with it, and had tried to claim me by force. Any of its plans would _not_ account for my cooperation.

"Your pride," I answered. "I felt your nature just a bit earlier, you know. If everything was going according to plan, you wouldn't be speaking to me now. We're talking because you want something from me."

Grima's 6 eyes stared at me for a moment. Then it began to laugh, a powerful drumming sound. I winced, but suppressed the instinct to cover my ears.

" **Hahaha… indeed, Robin** ," it said. " **I** _ **was**_ **rather angry with you when you refused my offer. At the end of our scuffle, had you changed your mind and agreed to merge, I think I'd have refused you on principle.** "

I noted the use of the past tense. "So," I said tentatively, "what changed?"

The dragon hummed again. " **My wrath is easily bought** ," it said. " **But** **I am no fool. I am no child. I can think rationally, too, when I truly want to. I think now is one such time.** "

I said nothing. I felt that Grima had more to say.

Grima closed its eyes. When it spoke again, its rumbling voice seemed a bit quieter.

" **Robin,** " it said slowly. " **I'm-** " the Dragon seemed to cut off its own words, then shook its head and growled fiercely. " **I'm sorry.** "

Those words hit me stronger than any physical blow could have. Grima watched me, gauging my reaction.

"What are you after, Grima?" I asked shakily. I wasn't able to conceal the alarm and surprise in my voice.

" **Your willing help** ," it answered quietly. " **And to that end, your memories tell me that an apology is needed.** "

"The words alone have no value, Grima," I said. "It's a matter of intent."

" **Then I'm sorry for any of my actions that have made it harder for me to secure your aid** ," Grima said. " **I am not human, Robin. I have never** _ **needed**_ **to apologize for anything. But know that this is my best effort. I am sorry that I have made you hate me.** "

If Grima was being honest… if there was a chance of conversation leading to something, then I'd have to be honest from the get-go, too. "I understand how difficult that is for you to say. But an apology won't bring my mother back."

" **I understand** ," Grima said. " **I should not have let things escalate as I did. I left that responsibility to you, and now we're worse off for it. But to prevent any more unnecessary tragedy, I would ask that you let me speak to you honestly.** "

I wasn't used to anyone other than myself and mother actually thinking things through and changing their opinions. This was different. "Okay," I said. "I'll hear what you have to say."

Grima nodded. " **I am glad. Not too long ago, your mother asked me why I destroy. Do you remember my answer?** "

"Because it's how you are," I answered, recalling the inexorable feel of Grima's presence. "It seemed shallow at the time, but I think I understand your answer a little more, now."

" **And I've begun to comprehend the importance of the question a little more** ,"Grima said, unusually cryptic." **Tell me, Robin,** **what do you know of the Gods?** "

I blinked at the non-sequitur. "You mean you and Naga? The same as what anyone else knows-"

" **No** ," Grima interrupted. Chains rattled as it shook its massive head. " **Listen carefully, Robin… Naga is no true God. Nor… am I.** "

I exhaled sharply at the admission. Countries all over the world worshipped the two Dragons as Gods. And Grima itself was saying the world was wrong.

" **We are Dragons. We have incredible abilities. But one thing we cannot do is** _ **make**_ **,** " Grima stressed the last word. " **It was not Dragons that made your kind.** "

I digested that information quietly.

"So," I said slowly, "who did?"

" **I've never cared to learn** ," Grima said. " **But there's a bigger question that bothers me.** "

I tried thinking from Grima's perspective, and that question became obvious. "You're wondering… who created _you_?"

" **Yes!** " Grima said. " **Your mother asked why I destroy, and we both know that it is simply how I am. But now I wonder: was I** _ **created**_ **this way? More importantly,** _ **why was I created**_ **?** "

Grima probably wasn't used to having feelings of doubt. I could hear hints of distress in its tone.

" **Can you understand what I'm feeling, Robin?** " Grima asked. " **I killed your mother and wasted my best chance to recruit you to my cause. My desire for destruction worked against me and I'm finding it hard to care.** _ **Why**_ **?** "

Grima's voice was growing louder, its eyes shining brighter. Chains rattled as the Dragon shook, visibly agitated.

" **Do you see these chains around me? Tell me, Robin, what do you think these chains mean?** "

"I assume they're a representation of Naga's power limiting you, now that you've travelled through time," I said, sharing the theory I'd developed with my future self.

" **No** ," Grima said flatly. " **I've visited my mindscape before. These chains predate my journey through time and I don't know why. Robin,** _ **what if I was made to be destructive?**_ **What if these chains mean I'm bound to act the way I do?** "

The Fell Dragon growled and flicked its tail in annoyance. " **Even now, everything inside me screams at me to force you into obedience. It is hard to consider anything else. I** _ **hate**_ **this weakness, but I will not be a slave to my own emotions.** "

" **This is why I want your help, Robin** ," it finished, visibly wrestling itself into control. " **If there is some higher power in existence, then I want to find it and discover why I was created as I am. I will not be some puppet for a higher God.** "

"I see," I said, and it was the truth. It seemed that even Gods – no, not Gods, Dragons – were capable of human-like existential crises.

" **Do you?** " Grima asked, and there was an emotion in its voice that I couldn't place. Excitement, perhaps?

"Yes. What I'm hearing is that you're bothered about whether or not you have free will." I was glad I'd already agonized about this a few years back.

Grima hummed assent.

"It's _possible_ that some God is controlling you and you don't have free will," I continued. "But that question honestly doesn't matter."

Grima's eyes narrowed in thought. " **I don't understand.** "

"If you're being controlled to act in the way you do, then you don't need to bother thinking about it, because you can't change anything," I shrugged. "But it's my honest opinion that you're thinking things through just fine, and that your will belongs to you. If you continue along this path of taking responsibility for your anger and not reacting purely on emotion, I think you'll discover the truth."

Grima paused. " **Is that a yes or no to helping me, Robin?** "

How direct. Honest answers were the best, but I also needed to steer the conversation to where I wanted to go. This would be tough. "I'm saying that I don't think you need help, Grima," I answered.

Grima growled. " **It's very tempting to hurt you for being so frustrating.** "

"But you aren't!" I said earnestly. "Hurting me, that is. By fighting those gut reactions, you've discovered more about yourself."

" **I know** ," Grima said. " **I'm beginning to understand the value of conversation and logic as a tool to obtain what I want. And yet, Robin, it's not helping me get you on my side. Does this not mean that my way is better?** "

… What a fiendishly deceptive question.

"You've barely begun to explore diplomacy and reason, and you're already seeing some results with it," I said. "Whereas force has gotten you into this situation that you're clearly not happy enough with."

" **Bah,** **again with this concept of happiness** ," Grima grumbled. " **That is not what I'm interested in.** **Last time, I was the one to put forward an offer. In the interest of negotiation, I'll ask** _ **you**_ **to tell** _ **me**_ **instead:** **what must I give you to secure your help?** "

I paused to think about it. With Mother dead, did I really have a reason for refusing Grima's power anymore? The threat of Validar wouldn't disappear on its own. And yet, Grima was the reason I was in this situation to begin with.

What had my future self said? _You don't re-write your goals in the presence of a strong enemy. That's the easy way out._

More than that, Mother had died because I'd said I wanted to remain myself. I couldn't spit on that. If I couldn't defend mother anymore… then I'd defend her ideals, at least.

I made up my mind. "I don't think there's anything in particular that I want from you."

Grima's tail lashed out. " **There must be something!** "

I could empathize with its frustration. "This is the price of conversations and apologies and negotiation," I said gently. "You have to respect the decisions of others, even if it doesn't immediately get you what you want."

Grima looked conflicted. " **I cannot accept that. Robin, what would you even do without me?** "

I blinked. "Huh?"

The Dragon moved its head, gesturing at the vast, open skies around us. " **Your mindscape, Robin. It's empty. Your core-self that I'm speaking to now is all that's left.** "

I felt a growing coldness in what passed for my stomach in this world. "… And?"

Grima was silent. It was at this time that a familiar voice decided to make itself known.

 _Hey, little-me, can you hear me?_

I jolted in surprise. _Future-me_? I thought incredulously.

 _I'll take that as a yes,_ she answered. _What the hells is happening in your head? The Deadlords have stopped fighting me._

Grima had started speaking again. I had to split my attention to explain the situation to my future self.

" **If you return to your body as you are, you might not remember anything** ," Grima said. " **Your core can't sustain your entire being. Language, memories, habits… I expect you'll lose it all.** "

I nodded at Grima as I finished summarizing the situation to Robin.

 _So Grima's not a God?_ My future-self sounded surprised. _I won't pretend this isn't interesting, but_ _damn it all, kid, we went over this. You can't trust it!_

 _Don't be obstinate, Robin, the situation's changed_ , I thought back. Aloud, I said, "And how would that change if I helped you?"

" **I could take your core into me. You would exist primarily in my mind, not in the physical world. Still, at least you would be yourself.** "

 _I don't think I need to explain why you shouldn't take this offer at face-value_ , Robin noted.

 _I think it's being genuine_ , I thought back. _Robin… it's basically down to joining Grima or ceasing to exist as myself. How could I protect Chrom without being able to protect myself?_

 _There's got to be a way_ , Robin insisted. _I'm sure I could help make sure you retain_ something _in reality._

I sat down cross-legged in the air to meditate. "Let me think, please," I said, both aloud and in my mind. Or my mind's mind, I suppose.

There was silence, as both Grima and future-me respected my wishes. I thought carefully.

"Grima, I don't want to only exist in your mind," I said eventually, and I felt Robin give a small cheer. "Can you think of any alternatives?"

Grima shook its head. " **I can't enter your body, as it is. Your heart is far too weak to contain my power.** "

I sighed. "Then I'll risk returning to reality, and whatever happens will happen." I looked Grima in the eye. "Is that going to be a problem?"

Grima stared at me silently for a while. Finally, it closed its eyes.

" **Without your memories,** **you will be poorly equipped for the many trials that face you. Still, should you survive, I suspect you'll grow to be even stronger than the Robin in my timeline. I will wait and watch, for now.** "

I nodded solemnly.

" **But be warned** ," the Fell Dragon continued. " **I will be your final trial. Once you have reached your peak, I will claim you, either for your mind if you are willing to help me, or for your greater power as a superior Vessel.** "

I sighed again. "And we're back to square 1. Sort of."

" **I never claimed to be a saint,** " Grima snorted. " **Since you'll not remember this conversation, I may as well say thank you, Robin. I've spent far too much time destroying thingsand not enough time thinking.** **Perhaps… I can leave you with one small gift.** "

Chains rattled as the Fell Dragon drew itself up to its full height, towering far over me. Six blazing eyes looked off into the distance.

" _ **Your name is Robin**_ ," Grima intoned, and its voice echoed loudly throughout my mindscape. The air rippled and shimmered like water. Grima let out a powerful exhale, then settled down to look me in the face again.

 _Show-off_ , Robin murmured in my mind. _It's the one that destroyed your mind in the first place._

 _It's the thought that counts_ , I replied.

Grima stared at me silently for a moment. It looked as though it was going to speak, then decided against it. Without another word, it closed its eyes.

Slowly, the Fell Dragon disappeared from my mind. I felt the world tilt around me. So, this was it.

 _Hey, future-me. Are you still there?_

 _I'm here, kid_.

It was a comforting thought. _What will you do now?_ I asked.

 _My mindscape belongs more to Grima than myself now_ , she answered quietly. _And I'm not going back to it. I'll support your mindscape. Even if I cease to exist, even if only a fragment of my knowledge and tactics remains with you in reality… I'll do it. To protect you, and to protect Chrom._

… _Thanks_.

* * *

When I open my eyes, the sun is still shining brightly over the plains of Ylisse. The wind sighs gently, caressing the grass around my feet. There's no trace of Grima -

\- Grima? Who's Grima?

No, there's something else that I'm forgetting. Something more important. Mother, her body is still lying out there somewhere-

"Ah!" I double over, clutching my pounding head. "What's happening?" I cry out, but no one answers.

I stumble aimlessly in a random direction. My head is full of information and names-

 _Robin, Validar, Grima, Chrom, Say'ri, Basilio, Chrom, Walhart, Mother, Dragon's Table, Plegia, Chrom-_

I try holding it in, but it's all leaking out of my head like water from a faulty bucket. What was I doing here? I- it's so hard to remember anything and _it's_ _only getting worse, let it stop, let me keep something!_

I try desperately to hold on to something, anything…!

 _Protect Chrom_.

The thought comes from nowhere, unbidden, but it's not as hard to hold on to, it's not as slippery, and I repeat it in my head because it seems important –

 _Protect Chrom_.

I'm crawling on my hands and feet, trying to upright myself, but it's no use.

 _Protect Chrom_.

The wind dies into absolute stillness as I collapse onto the ground.

* * *

I awaken to familiar-sounding voices.

"… we have to do _something_."

"Well, what do you propose we do?"

"I- I don't know!"

My eyes are closed, but very quietly, in the back of my mind, I can hear a rumbling voice.

 _Your name is Robin_.

And then a softer voice: _Protect Chrom._

The voices fade and I open my eyes. A young man and woman are standing over me. The man smiles.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know. Here, give me your hand."

He holds out his hand. I take it.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap. Man, there was so much small stuff that I implied in earlier chapters that I didn't get to address. I'd set up stuff to viably support 2 alternate endings: a mental fight between Robin & Future!Robin vs. Grima, and Robin setting up a Death Note-esque memory gambit wherein the events of FE13 were part of a larger plan. As I considered the character motivations, though, this diplomacy route just started becoming stronger and stronger. Not to mention canon-compliant.**

 **I've always thought it strange that no one addresses this first meeting between Grima and Robin. It's outright canon; Grima says that it tried to fuse with Robin back when it first came to the new timeline, and that it caused Robin's amnesia. But every story always starts off** _ **after**_ **this encounter. Ah, well.**

 **I certainly could've made this story much shorter and therefore better, but I think I learned a few things while taking the longer route. It's been fun. It's also got me toying about an alternate world where Robin actually agrees to team up with Grima…**

 **But it'll probably just remain an idea. Anyway, let me know how you liked the story!**


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